THE STARFIRE ACADEMY

Creating an integrated academy to build a better future for our community’s children through sport, science, technology, engineering and math

SOCCER AS A PLATFORM FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

There are numerous and varied benefits of participation in organized sports, including healthier children and improved academic achievement. Starfire Sports Academy for youth ages 18 months and up lowers the barrier of entry by creating an environment where all youth are welcome—regardless of skill level, gender, ethnicity, or ability to pay.

Our Academy serves over 1,000 student athletes annually, and is designed to inspire a passion for sport, and empower youth with the life skills to support their development as tomorrow’s leaders.

In a climate where physical activity is being increasingly defunded and removed from the public education experience, parents have found that our programs fill the gap in developing a well-rounded child. Many of the same children we serve through soccer are also in need of a helping hand in one of the most important arenas of our time: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math - STEM.

TOMORROW’S OPPORTUNITIES ARE FOUND IN STEM...

 

However, many Washington State youth are not making the cut. While our state ranks #1 STEM jobs,3 we rank 47th in the proportion of high school graduates going directly to college,3 and our achievement gap in math and science education is the 12th largest in the nation.4 In communities surrounding Starfire...

 

Clearly, many students are not engaged and are getting left behind with no opportunity to land one of the lucrative STEM jobs in their future.

 

STEM AS PART OF THE STARFIRE ACADEMY: CULTIVATING CURIOSITY, INSPIRING PASSION, SUPPORTING SUCCESS

 
For many, the opportunities provided by the incredibly vibrant local STEM economy are inaccessible. Today, numerous alternative project-based learning methods are available that are more fun and immersive for children. Starfire is uniquely positioned to deliver these “gamified” projects to our diverse community with an approach that inspires interest in, and passion for, STEM. And so, our Starfire STEM Academy was launched in 2018. Similar to our soccer programming approach, our STEM Academy works to reduce the barriers of entry by making STEM classes fun, approachable, and accessible to all. Our goal is not to replace the role of schools, but to help prepare our youth to engage and fully embrace STEM learning opportunities at their schools. We do this by using STEM-based gamification products that engage our participants, cultivate their curiosity, and make them comfortable with the underlying science and technology through project-based learning. From the soccer field to the classroom, we seek to make our student athletes as confident joining a robotics or coding club in high school as they are trying out for the soccer team.

STEM PROGRAM MODEL

ACADEMY PARENTS ON NEED FOR STEM

 

Get details about our upcoming STEM Academy Session

 
CITATIONS
  1. 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEAP) Nation’s Report Card - http://nces. ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/ 
  2. Great Jobs Within Our Reach: Solving the Problem of Washington state’s growing job skills gap. The Boston Consultancy Group and the Washington Roundtable. March 2013. https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/education_public_sector_opportunity_all_investing_washington_state_stem_education/
  3. Washington State STEM Education Innovation Alliance 2017 STEM Education Report Card - http://www.wsac.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2017.STEM.Report.Card.pdf
  4. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Science 2015 and Math 2015
  5. Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction 2015-2016 Washington State Report Card - http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us

Starfire Sports