STEM Enrichment & Career Exploration (Sinclair CC)

Provided By

Participants look at a video display while an instructor provides an explanation.

STEM Enrichment & Career Exploration programs such as the STEM After-School and STEM-to-You engage K–8 students in STEM activities in after-school settings. Students in grades 9-12 have the opportunity to learn about careers in medicolegal and forensic science at the Forensic Science Career Day held twice a year.

Logic Model

Program Activities

Students (Grade K-12)

Engage in STEM activities in afterschool settings (K-8)

Learn about careers in medico-legal and forensic science (9-12)

Program Near-Term Outcomes

Students (Grade K-12)

Increase STEM competencies (knowledge, skills, etc.)

Increase awareness of STEM careers

Increase awareness of STEM career pathways

DSEC Near-Term Outcomes

Students (Grade K-12)

Increased participant awareness of, and interest in, STEM research and careers

Increased participant STEM competencies (skills, knowledge, abilities, and confidence)

Participant Perspectives

Participant perspectives reflect survey responses from 2025-2026, the first year of survey administration.

Of 474 student participants, 254 responded to the survey.

Students

Grades K-5

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

STEM After-School made me more interested in STEM.

25% 50% 25%

n = 8 valid responses

STEM After-School helped me feel I belong in STEM.

25% 25% 50%

n = 8 valid responses

The STEM-to-You program improved my confidence in my skills for doing STEM.

10% 20% 70%

n = 10 valid responses

The STEM-to-You program helped me feel that I belong to STEM.

10% 10% 30% 50%

n = 20 valid responses

STEM-to-You made me like STEM more.

33.3% 11.1% 55.6%

n = 9 valid responses

Being part of STEM-to-You made me more interested in STEM.

20% 10% 30% 40%

n = 10 valid responses

Being part of STEM After-School made me more self confident in STEM.

20% 80%

n = 10 valid responses

Grades 6-16

Disagree
Slightly Agree
Moderately Agree
Strongly Agree

The STEM After-School program improved my confidence in my skills for doing STEM.

21.1% 36.8% 42.1%

n = 19 valid responses

The STEM After-School program helped me feel that I belong to STEM.

27.8% 11.1% 55.6%

n = 18 valid responses

The Forensic Science Career Day program improved my awareness of education pathways to forensic science or other STEM careers.

38.5% 55.1%

n = 234 valid responses

The Forensic Science Career Day program improved my knowledge of the connections between STEM skills and forensic science careers.

37.6% 56%

n = 234 valid responses

STEM After-School program helped me learn about different kinds of STEM jobs and careers.

17.6% 35.3% 47.1%

n = 17 valid responses

The STEM After-School program increased my interest in a STEM job or career.

25% 12.5% 56.3%

n = 16 valid responses

Program Data

Program data includes participants from both years of Base Period (2024-2025 and 2025-2026).

Students

1,007 total student participants

Student Grade Level

Military-Connected Students

Category	Count	%
Military-connected	98	9.7%
Not Military-connected Student	909	90.3%

Other programs from Partner

Dayton Chief Science Officers (CSOs) Program (Sinclair)

Summer STEM Program (Sinclair CC)