Discovering and Elevating Youth Potential at Dorris Dann Kids Campus

K-12 STEAM education

San Gabriel Valley

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

Our Saviour Center works directly with El Monte, California, an incorporated city of Los Angeles County with a Hispanic/Latino majority population (64.7%), followed by a 30.3% Asian population. The Hispanic/Latino population comprises 80.1% of El Monte City School District’s student population and 79% of the El Monte Union High School District’s. It then comes as a concern when seeing only 15% of Hispanic individuals hold bachelor’s degrees, the lowest of any demographic, and only 12% of STEM degrees are held by Hispanics. Although they make up 17% of the workforce, they only account for 8% of workers in the STEM field. Only 13.6% of adults in El Monte hold bachelor’s degrees, while most never finished high school (26%). At the El Monte City School District, 63.7% of students did not meet the standard for math proficiency, while 71.9% of students at El Monte Union High School District failed to meet the standard for math proficiency, calling to concern the future of STEAM in El Monte.

Dorris Dann Kids Campus is an after-school expanded learning program offering academic support, enrichment clubs, and youth development programs in subjects including social-emotional learning, sports and recreation, character building, fine and applied arts, STEAM, and more to youth in TK to 8th grade. As a program, we address the need for STEAM education by providing curriculum that supports the subjects they already learn at school such as math and science, while expanding on electives they may have less access to such as coding, art, and robotics. Programs such as our PC Club allow youth to build personal computers from scratch with the help of staff, while Techbridge Girls encourages girls to explore STEAM in an environment that empowers them. The art studio inspires creativity and imagination, adding an artistic element to our STEAM projects.
In late 2024, Dorris Dann Kids Campus was awarded a Best Buy Teen Tech Center by the Best Buy Foundation. Located in the DDKC facility, the Teen Tech Center extends our STEAM programs to teens in El Monte and aims to improve computer literacy and expand on a variety of subjects such as music composition, video production, computer engineering, and software engineering through engagement, practical experience, and mentorship. Middle school students in our program will have access to the facility with the goal of establishing foundational computer knowledge and introduce advanced technical skills in preparation for high school.

Access to high quality curriculum and STEAM-related materials can be costly, especially when there is no one experienced to teach the curriculum. By providing opportunities to explore STEAM in a physically and mentally safe environment, completely free of charge, we are educating and nurturing the future innovators and creatives of Los Angeles County. At Dorris Dann Kids Campus, students learn basic STEAM education starting from TK/Kindergarten and progress to more advanced and technical skills as they grow through the program. Access to STEAM education at a young age encourages youth to pursue STEAM as a career. Having gone through a program that fostered their interests while teaching academic and career applicable skills, it better prepares them to graduate and join the STEAM workforce. No longer limited by their demographic or economic background, they will lead Los Angeles as it moves to the forefront of the STEAM industry.