About YES
At YES, every young mind deserves the chance to explore STEM. We support opportunities through immersive programmes that develop curiosity, creativity, leadership and real world skills
OUR CHARITY: Our Mission and our Methods
Youth Exploring Science (YES) a US 5013c education charity exists to build students’ confidence in their ability to handle STEMM challenges by giving them experience of handling a STEMM challenge. It was set up to capitalise on students’ interest in environmental, space and futuristic technology. We use YES as the driver for students to delve into topics in science, environment, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as medicine, psychology, sociology, management, product design, process design, communications and business. .
YES activities are all based on learning, not teaching. Students usually encounter in their education systems the concept of listening to lectures, memorising, followed by being tested. Our simulations employ something different – learning through experience, engagement and
Employers and university admissions teams benefit in multiple ways:
(a) Students are able to their use experience to claim: “I know I can do STEMM because I have already used STEMM in this big challenge”;
(b) Students can claim: “I know that I can collaborate, cooperate, communicate and be part of student-led critical problem solving because I have done it on this challenging design task”;
(c) Students can claim: “I know that I can work in a diverse group, because my YES activity involved students from different schools working together as a multidisciplinary team”; and
(d) Students can claim: “I know how it feels to be ready to defend my work and my team’s work because our team faced a vigorous Q&A from a panel of clients”.
YES runs events worldwide and, for areas that we are yet to be able to reach, we run an online version of our activities, to widen access geographically, economically, and socially.
Key aspects of our activities are:
- A client supplies a ‘Request for Proposal” with defined “minimum requirements”.
- The audience is different from usual, for a student: a client, instead of a teacher, requests the work.
- The breadth of topics includes STEMM, arts, business and many more fields, imitating real-life.
- There is no pre-existing ‘correct answer’: Space settlements are futuristic and Earth sustainability needs are yet to be met.
- Students work in a larger-than-usual teams, managing themselves as a company, to fulfil the client’s ambitious request.
- Time, cost, quality, safety, risk-handling and opportunity-recognition cut across every student’s work, on every topic.
The students bear testament to the success of our programmes. Besides gaining various knowledge, skills and industry insights, pupils gain other personal benefits. These include increased confidence, awareness of their
own strengths, an understanding of other people, a feeling of competence, and a sense of responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Above all, they have fun.
Our Valued Partners
