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Non-Profit · 2020 — 2023

STEMbox.

Hands-on science experiments delivered.

Co-founded a non-profit delivering hands-on STEM experiment kits to elementary students across the Greater Vancouver Area. In three years, reached 400+ students across 12+ schools.

Co-Founder · Greater Vancouver Area · 2020 — 2023

STEMbox team

problem

When schools closed in 2020, hands-on science education stopped. Elementary students in the Greater Vancouver Area had no way to run real experiments or experience science as something physical. Worksheets replaced labs. Videos replaced demonstrations. STEMbox was co-founded to close that gap: designing, assembling, and delivering physical experiment kits directly to students, paired with live virtual instruction.

solution

Each STEMbox kit was built around a single experiment. Materials were individually sourced, portioned, and packed for each student: DNA extraction, electromagnets, buoyancy testing, volcano chemistry, UV bead sunscreen experiments, Alka-Seltzer film canisters, Cartesian divers, and more. Every box was labeled with a student's name, assembled in a garage, and distributed to partner schools across Vancouver.

STEMbox kits being assembled on the living room floor, materials spread out across the carpet

Assembly on the living room floor: materials portioned for each student.

Finished STEMbox kits stacked in the garage, each labeled with a student name

Finished boxes stacked in the garage, each labeled with a student name.

curriculum · 12+ lessons

Every lesson was created and delivered live, covering physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering for grades 1 through 7. Topics included buoyancy, electromagnets, DNA structure, osmosis, Cartesian divers, the effects of sunscreen on UV radiation, and structural engineering. Each session paired the physical kit with a purpose-built slide deck and live instruction, run virtually during a period when keeping young students engaged across a screen required deliberate design.

Grid of 12+ lesson decks including DNA extraction, electromagnets, volcano, buoyancy, and Alka-Seltzer

Original lesson decks spanning physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering.

impact

What began as a direct response to pandemic learning loss grew into a three-year program with school partnerships across the region. Kits were assembled by hand, logistics were managed independently, and curriculum was iterated based on student and teacher feedback each session.

Students reached
400+
Partner schools
12+ across the Greater Vancouver Area
Years of operation
3 continuous years
Grades served
Grades 1 through 7
Subjects covered
Physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering

recognition

Featured in the Peace Arch News.

The program was recognized for its impact on students and families across the Semiahoo Secondary community during the height of virtual learning.

Featured in Peace Arch News