U.S. Central Americans in STEAM careers - An Oral History Project

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

The Central American population has grown to 7 million in the United States, a majority of which lives in LA. We have the opportunity to connect with this marginalized group by achieving a comprehensive and meaningful representation of the voices we seek to capture. Educators and students of color continue to be an underserved group that we intend to reach. With a general lack of Central American educational resources, we believe we can contribute a strong educational benefit. At any level of study, the project’s testimonies, stories and exhibits will be a valuable educational tool to supplement ethnic studies programs that foster a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. Women and girls may not see themselves in STEAM fields offering an opportunity to reflect and rethink how they see themselves in the American narrative.

CAHAAS preserves Central American heritage through the collection, preservation and exhibition of Central American related historical documents, artifacts, photographs, artworks and oral stories found at www.CAHAAS.org This project is focused on conducting 16 oral histories related to STEAM as culturally responsive teaching resources with a programming strategy.
We will begin conducting 6 new oral histories focused on professionals with STEAM careers (engineers, doctors, molecular biologists, etc.) and the existing 10 oral histories of artists will be completed. The videos will be made available on YouTube and linked to the CAHAAS website.
In 2025, CAHAAS will co-sponsor an art exhibition with our oral histories. The goal is to reach the underserved Latinx community and an audience of teachers and students in collaboration with The Museum of Social Justice. Currently, the museum welcomes approximately 1,600 monthly visitors. It is expected the project will draw approximately 8,000 visitors during the duration of the exhibit. We are working with the LAUSD Division of Instruction to provide a teachers' guide/lesson plans to their Ethnic Studies K-12 teachers and for district-wide training that will significantly enhance our reach.
Another ongoing partnership is with local chapters of the California History Social Science Project, who are addressing and finding solutions to the lack of resources available to Central Americans about Central Americans.

Los Angeles county has already been positively impacted by our projects. So for example, we have collaborated with teachers at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy- Jane B. Eisner and the upcoming art exhibit will be accessible to an underserved community that is located in the lower quartiles of the California Healthy Places Index (HPI). The overall success of the program, however, will be hard to quantify but our goal is to increase understanding of the rich and dynamic history, culture of Central Americans, including their contributions within and beyond our geographic borders. Systemic racism and injustices affect people differently and on many levels. Awareness and education are first steps in breaking down biases and prejudice. Through its STEAM inspired programming will begin to close the gap on racial inequality. We raise all voices to empower our communities, educate, and ensure US Central Americans are included in the American story.

Our assessments of events and activities will give us insight into the impact this grant will have on our goal to provide culturally responsive K-12 teaching and learning STEAM resources.
Assessment of Panel Discussions: ● Count attendance with sign-in sheets ● QR code visitor surveys ● Q&A discussion; analysis of discussion for reporting and modifying future forums ● Collect and document all media/social media and community coverage.
Assessment of exhibition: ● Museum docents count the number of visitors, school groups, and tours. ● Museum staff will observe visitors’ responses and engagement with the exhibition's narrators. ● Follow up with teachers and students about their experience of the exhibition by sharing an evaluation form using a Google survey application. ● Collect engagement data for online learning module(s), and social media views. ● Collect and document all exhibition coverage by news outlets, institutions, and social media accounts.