Our Free, Barrier-Breaking STEM Programs Are Made Possible with the Generous Support of Our Partners and Sponsors.
NSSA At-A-Glance
About NSSA, The Northeast STEM Starter Academy at Mt. Vernon
The NSSA at Mt. Vernon is an independent, IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization created in direct response to the many challenges that the public school system cannot adequately address due to resource and budget constraints.
Our first program, delivered during the summer of 2014, was delivered to 27 seventh graders. The 2018 summer program engaged 100 students in 8 different grade levels. In 2019, 130 children had fun learning about robotics, electronics, hydroponics, computer coding, 3-D printing, and more.
The summer programs and our array of other after-school and weekend programs, which have engaged more than 3,000 students, have been made possible by generous donations and support from those who stand with us and for our children.
At the same time, our plans include building a STEM-centered learning facility that will work in partnership with public school leadership to ensure our at-risk students have access to state-of-the-art science and technology resources that prepare them for careers as teachers, scientists, computer technologists, doctors, and engineers.
Who We Are:
The Northeast STEM Starter Academy at Mt. Vernon (NSSA), originally the Mount Vernon Technology & Science Youth Center for Advancement, was created in the winter of 2013 and received its 501(c)(3) approval in April 2014.
The NSSA provides children attending public schools in Mt. Vernon and children from the region with access and exposure to enhanced, challenging STEM learning that is otherwise unavailable to them.
What We Do:
STEM education encourages creativity and innovation by challenging students to think outside the box and find novel solutions to real-world problems. For underprivileged youth, who may face numerous obstacles and limitations in their environment, STEM offers a platform for exploration and experimentation. By engaging in hands-on projects and experiments, these youths learn to approach challenges with a problem-solving mindset, fostering resilience and adaptability. This not only enhances their academic performance but also empowers them to become agents of change in their communities, tackling local issues through innovative solutions.
Why We Do it:
To provide children attending public schools in Mt. Vernon and children from the region with access and exposure to enhanced, challenging STEM learning that when coupled with hard work and persistence will allow them to break through existing barriers and achieve life success.
Because the children living in the only major city in the state of NY where minorities represent the majority of the population with African American at almost 70% should not have their futures determined by their zip code.
Mission
Our Mission: Imagining Possibilities, Building Futures
Introduce the marvels of science on a systematic, frequent, and regularly scheduled basis, enabling at-risk, underserved students to experience, explore and personalize the resulting discoveries.
The NSSA, a STEM Educational Community Center embedded in the community of Mt. Vernon, designed to be embraced by the school system and freely available to children, parents, teachers, and the broader community. The NSSA is committed to creating a well-resourced science and technology-based resource, providing students access and exposure to enriched STEM learning. As demonstrated over the prior years, STEM learning empowers our students with the desire, motivation, and skills needed to pursue careers as doctors, scientists, technologists, and engineers.
The center will work in partnership with public school leadership to ensure at-risk students have access to state-of-the-art science and technology resources that prepare them for careers as teachers, scientists, computer technologists, doctors and engineers.
NSSA’s providing our children attending public schools in Mt. Vernon and children from the region with access and exposure to enhanced, challenging STEM learning will support their breaking through existing barriers and achieving educational and life success.
Vision
Our Vision: The Center, Community Change Agent
Directly impact the Mt. Vernon community, and specifically the lives of the almost 7,000 students attending the city’s public schools with a state-of-the-art technology and science facility that is embraced by current and succeeding generations of students, parents, and the broader community.
Why a Technology and Science Center for Mt. Vernon, NY?
Because the children living in the only major city in the state of NY where minorities represent the majority of the population, with African Americans at almost 70%, should not have their futures determined by their zip code.
On realizing our vision, the NSSA is positioned to address the inordinate, long-existing disparity associated with children of color from impoverished communities and their not being prepared for careers in various STEM disciplines. Cultural change is fundamental to successfully addressing some of the underlying social and economic issues that account for many of the difficulties that most children from Mt. Vernon must overcome to succeed. NSSA’s informal learning center will help propel a critical cultural change within a city and community in dire need.
We seek help from individuals, organizations, and businesses to hasten NSSA’s being situated to address the daunting challenges
of the student population we intend to influence most. At this critical time in our development, securing a position on the ground will immeasurably increase our chances of dramatically changing the trajectory of a population too often discounted or discarded.
We seek to provide these children and children from the region with access and exposure to enhanced, challenging STEM learning, which, when coupled with hard work and persistence, will allow them to break through existing barriers and achieve life success.
Mt. Vernon, NY
Why Mt. Vernon? A Community At-Risk
With approximately 70,000 people, Mt. Vernon is the third largest city in Westchester County, and accounts for 8% of the affluent county’s total population.
A city that compromises less than 10% of the affluent Westchester County’s total population but accounts for the majority of the county’s murder rate is unacceptable to our organization. Mount Vernon has a higher crime rate, poverty rate, unemployment rate and consistently graduates 25% to 45% less students each year from it public schools than those in the surrounding communities.
Mt. Vernon is the only major city in the state of New York where minorities represent the majority of the population with African-Americans at almost 70%. Mt. Vernon has:
Mt. Vernon's Youth Needs Your Help
More than 90% of the students attending Mt. Vernon’s public schools are children of color. Over the past five years, the school district has graduated 30% to 45% fewer students annually compared to the districts of the surrounding communities. Equally distressing, our students’ math and science national test scores are among the county’s lowest.
Children of Color
Fewer Graduates than Surrounding Communities
Pass Rate (8th Grade Math, 2012)
“The NSSA has been an incredible resource for our students. The hands-on science activities have sparked their curiosity and helped them develop a love for STEM. After ten years, a long list of students have consistently credited their learning experiences associated with the NSSA with strongly influencing and encouraging their seeking and securing STEM-based careers.”
-Gerald D. Dennis, Founder and Executive Director”
Impact
Transforming Lives: Success Stories of Impact from our STEM Education Initiatives
Do you see our future doctors, scientists, technologists and engineers? We do!
We’re so proud of our more than 3,500 participating students over these past ten years who live in Mt. Vernon; the NSSA intends to help them beat the odds that right now, in Mt. Vernon, are against them.
With the kind backing of our friends and supporters, we are providing our children with access and exposure to enhanced, challenging STEM learning that, when coupled with hard work and persistence, will allow them to break through existing barriers and achieve lifelong success.
As proud as we are of our more than eighty prior programs and the many accomplishments, the future of our children and our community demands that we do more.
Discover the impact that the NSSA has had on the lives of underprivileged and at-risk students. Through our STEM educational programs, we have empowered these students to unlock their potential and pursue their dreams. Read their stories and be inspired by their accomplishments.
Looking Forward
The Center: Together We Can Change the Trajectory for an Entire Community.
We Have the Vision.
Help Us Make It a Reality.
Research indicates that technology and science centers have a positive educational impact on the children of the community and the community in general. Additionally, they can improve the economics and culture of the community and the surrounding communities. The NSSA at Mt. Vernon will offer a host of interactive exhibits, a planetarium, various laboratories, and a broad range of student-based programs directly aligned with the Board of Education curriculum, internships, and other opportunities to prepare youth for four-year colleges and meaningful careers.
This hands-on educational resource will reflect the NSSA’s commitment to and support of the community. The center will feature a broad collection of interactive technology and science exhibits, many of which are aligned with and made possible through the support and guidance of local and national corporate partnerships.
The center will partner with public school leadership to ensure that at-risk students have access to state-of-the-art science and technology resources that prepare them for careers as teachers, scientists, computer technologists, doctors, and engineers.
Funding: All capital to fund the construction is audited by an independent major accounting firm, and audits are made publicly available. The initial fundraising goal is $5 million.
