This started as a passion of one kid who wanted all kids to learn to code and be critical thinkers and users of STEM.

Why Y4STEM?

Hello, my name is Sayid Achilov. When I started this project, I was a middle school student. I have been a math lover and someone who always asked, “Is reality real?“ In my free time, as a child, I often engaged in coding by taking coding classes or reading coding books. STEM was a colorblind refuge for me until I started high school, took classes in social sciences, social and ethical aspects of computing, and participated in critical conversations with my peers, family, community, and teachers about how stem is dynamically intertwined with social and cultural, which means STEM is not neutral, it is not universal, and it is not always objective. STEM is complex because it involves humans, and our natural-cultural world is intertwined, even though we often consider these domains dichotomous.

I have had the privilege to work with many amazing peers from diverse backgrounds, learn from amazing mentors about STEM skills and knowledge, and I believe everyone must have access to STEM, or critical knowledge and thinking about STEM. However, that is not the case and large disparities exist in access to STEM education.

I started tutoring kids in STEM, starting with my own young siblings, and then community (disclaimer, I am the first generation Uzbek-American), and growing up I have been a part of many diverse immigrant communities in different parts of the U.S. The amazing people, of all ages, in these communities and wide-range of communities I have been a part of contributed to my growth. I thought I could give back to these communities by “teaching” or “engaging“ in critical STEM skills and knowledges. Especially, many diverse communities are not well represented or served in STEM. This means many perspectives and insights are missing from STEM. This is how this initiative was started, very small, and now it is growing to be a bigger grass root organized led by and for youth 4 critical STEM.