Inspire Young Minds

First Unitarian Church of San Jose

160 N 3rd St, 95112, San Jose, CA, United States

Third Street Community Center

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Opening Doors of Opportunity“The Third Street Community Center (TSCC) is a place where people of all ages and backgrounds are actively engaged in enriching themselves and their community through education, arts, technology and service." To achieve this mission, we developed a whole child, whole family, whole community approach, and adopted project-based learning as our primary educational strategy.Project-based learningengages youth through hands-on activities. In other words, youth learn by doing. This interactive approach helps youth make connections between complex math and science with everyday life. The use of this strategy has led to the creation of innovative programs such as our Young Engineers Program.Our first year of operation relied entirely on volunteers and led to the creation of ourwhole child, whole family, and whole communityapproach.Our approach takes into account the importance of volunteers in youth education and has forged some amazing partnerships with anchor institution in our local area.Each year, we welcome over 300 volunteers who serve as mentors, tutors, positive role models, and more.Our key programs include:1)TheAfter School Academic Program(ASAP) aims to close the achievement gap by providing tutoring, mentoring, STEM education, physical education, and more to elementary school children.2)TheYoung Engineers Programprovides career exploration in STEM. Youth learn about the engineering design process and compete in the annual Tech Challenge.3)OurSummer of Learning Programkeep children safe and learning during the summer. Youth focus on improving their literacy skills, explore STEM projects, participate in various art projects, and go on field trips.We have various projects throughout the year that promote STEM and help academically at-risk children learn to be more competitive. This includes our STEM for Latina Girls Project and our annual Spelling Bee.