Olivia Glanton, a rising ninth-grader from Haw River, peered at a spinach leaf through a microscope. She and the other rising ninth-graders in the NCSSM-Durham science laboratory were dressed in the attire of a working scientist – long white lab coat, with blue latex gloves. They were all part of an annual weeklong, residential summer STEM enrichment program administered by NCSSM called Step Up to STEM. For the last few years the program has run at two sites: on NCSSM’s Durham campus and at Elizabeth City State University.

Funded entirely through private and corporate support, the program has, since 2013, offered STEM programming to a wide range of rising ninth- and 10th-grade students from all over North Carolina, including those who come from low-income families, communities with the lowest proportion of students pursuing post-secondary education after graduating from high school, or communities otherwise underserved with regard to opportunities in STEM fields. Participants from the central and western part of the state – like Olivia – come to NCSSM-Durham. Those from the eastern and southern regions of North Carolina head to Elizabeth City. Nearly 140 students from 39 counties participated across both sites this year.

Rising ninth-grade participants in Step Up to STEM rotated through three sessions each day of the program. Olivia and her classmates in Durham spent the morning in math and engineering sessions. In the afternoon biology session, they worked to determine what kind of bacteria was growing on the spinach leaves and where it came from. Could it have come from the soil on a farm? Might it have gotten there in a produce processing plant?

“I don’t think you could get [this kind of experience] anywhere else unless there are other science and STEM camps like Step Up to STEM,” Olivia said during a break. “But I don’t think they would be like this because in this one, you’re engaged. We were just in there in the lab where we made our own slide under the microscope, and in the engineering class we’re making our own app, which is not something you can do every day. In math, we’re budgeting and stuff like that. Those are good real-life skills, not just learning how to solve for x.”

A week prior to the Durham camp, Step Up to STEM was busy in Elizabeth City, where rising 10th-grade participants had returned for a second year of programming. These SUTS veterans worked thoughout the week on a handful of special projects in chemistry and biology.

Celia Bansah, from Winterville, was one of those returning students. She spent part of her time at a lab table in one of ECSU’s chemistry labs, testing levels of vitamin C in different fruit juices. With a dropper, she carefully delivered iodine to a small amount of each juice in a plastic tray called a spot plate, which looks very much like an egg tray or a watercolor artist’s mixing tray. She had to be precise, though; the more vitamin C present, the less iodine it took to turn the juices from shades of yellow to dark blue. 

And it was time consuming. There were several different juices to test, and each juice required three trials because, as Celia said, “in science experiments, it’s always good to do at least three trials to get accurate results.”

Returning for a second year of Step Up programming was a no-brainer for Celia. “This program has been one of the best experiences in my life overall,” she said. “It definitely has grown my interest in STEM. I’ve always been interested in science and math, but coming to this program made me want to be more of a part of STEM fields. If there’s anybody else who is ever interested in this program, they should apply and try to get in because it can change your life for the better. It definitely had a positive impact on mine.”

While NCSSM faculty members served as site directors at each location, the key to the program’s success, said Dr. Gerri Cole, NCSSM’s Associate Director of STEM Outreach, Equity, and Engagement, is having buy-in from the faculty who lead the instruction. “We could not run this program,” Cole says, “without the incredible educators – from regional teachers to NCSSM faculty to current and former university instructors – who lend their expertise.”

Since its founding 11 years ago, Step Up to STEM has served more than 620 students from 77 NC counties. Interest in the program remains so strong that program administrators are exploring Step Up’s expansion to locations in the southern and western regions of the state.

Doing so, Cole said, will require a continued partnership between the school and private donors. “We’re still in the early, exploratory stages of possibly growing the program, but if there’s anyone out there interested in helping us make this happen, we’d love to have that conversation with you.”