Meet STEM From Dance!
A couple of weeks ago I visited students and founder of STEM from Dance at IS 145 in Queens where I got to see the program in action. STEM from Dance is an organization that combines dancing with science and math to help encourage young girls to gain confidence within them and science. Their mission is to reach under-represented minority girls by using dance to encourage girls to seek STEM careers later on in life. I interviewed the founder, Yamilée Toussaint, about her organization.
Let’s get to know Yamilée + STEM from Dance a little better…
What does a typical day look like for you?
I’d say there is probably two types of schedules when it comes to my day-to-day activties. I’m either going to a school at some point in the day to see the program in action. Usually, I’m there to observe, support, lend an extra hand, and offer feedback with an outsider’s perspective to the instructor to see where we can add improvements.
My time outside of the school is spent running the rest of the organization which entails having conversations with people who do similar work or who are interested in partnering in some way. It could also be managing our finances, reviewing a grant application that somebody else wrote for us, or prioritizing on how I’m spending my time with the organization.
So either I’m at a school tending to the little things or being absent but focusing on the items I need to do to keep the business afloat.
What is most challenging about your job?
There are so many things but I’ll just try to name a few. One challenge is that a good amount of what I do I’m doing for the first time and learning as I’m doing it. I’m constantly wondering ‘Am I approaching this in the best way?’ Should I be seeking more opinions before I make this decision? Is their somebody who has done this already that I can learn from?
I’m always questioning and making sure that I am choosing the right choices so I’d say the second-guessing is challenging.
A second difficulty is convincing others of the value in investing in supporting what we’re doing. I think people sometimes feel the concept of using dance to draw young girls into stem is something that is unusual and confusing. The challenge is to make sure that partnered schools and organizations genuinely understand what we do and don’t think that we’re using dance as a gimmick. Explainining that our program makes an impact can sometimes be a difficult hill to climb.
What is most enjoyable about your job?
I’ve had the option to use my engineering degree and get a job in that field but I knew that I wanted to directly impact the minority community. It’s important to empower those who are disempowered that’s why that my main reason why I chose not to do engineering full-time.
It’s enjoyable to do something that aligns with my personal passions. I’m just grateful that I love what I do for my full-time job. To be able to empower youth while using my educational background is such a privilege!
What makes your program stand out compared to other programs?
I think the core of what we do is look at the population of who we want to serve and think about what they are already excited about.
The key is to use their personal interests to bridge the gap towards careers that may have a reputation of being whack and boring you know?
There’s still a lot of work to do to make math + science more approachable and so I think that we have an advantage to draw students who just like to dance. We are offering the chance to dance to create and perform as well as leading them down a transformational path that could be very promising for their future.
Did you have a program like this when you were younger? If not, then how do you think a program like this would have affected your life?
Not exactly, so I’ve been dancing since I was 4 or 5 years old. I went to this dance school not too far from where I lived and I was there 6 days a week which was a large part of my upbringing. But on the flipside I particpipated in math club on this side but was never able to practice them together.
I developed strong friendships because I was surrounded by individuals with similar interests. I went to a school focused in technology so I was around people with the same passions which naturally encouraged me to move forward.
Who or what inspires you?
My father because he is an engineer and would bring me to work all the time. Even when he came home he had the mindset of naturally creating solutions to any challenges he was ever facing. He was my inspiration and so clearly he was a big influence in our lives. My mother always made sure I was exposed to different opportunities such as dance and music. So it was a perfect mixture for my life!
Where do you see this program in 10 years?
My long-term vision is to continue to use relevancy and tying them to opportunities of today’s youth. I want more students to have access to the program not only by location but also to those who are interested in different activities outside of dance.
We want to expand beyond dance and make subjects that youth may not neccesarily be enthusiatiastic about yet and make them more attractive.And even go beyond students and adults who are looking for a new career or trait!
We are all about EMPOWERMENT at C.O.R.E mag, what does empowerment mean to you?
There is something special about discovering untapped potential and realizing that we are capable of more than we think.
A major moment in life is when we realize that we naturally put limits on ourselves until we’re exposed to something better.
I remember when I was in high school I was doing well academically and during freshman year I was receiving low to high 90’s. I thought I was doing great! But one day I was at my neighbor’s house and saw their report card. He was receiving over 100 because our school offered extra credit. I didn’t even know you could receive over 100! But all I needed was to discover it was possible and voila!
The rest of high school I began performing at that level so I think it’s just being able to help somebody realize they’re potential and encouraging them by exposing them to something new.
You can find more about the organization at the website, stemfromdance.org and follow
them on twitter: @stemfromdance
them on twitter: @stemfromdance
Interview by Xandria Milligan
