Safe and Smart: Making After-School Hours Work for Kids - June 1998

A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Communities Meeting the Need for
After-School Activities


ASPIRA Math and Science (MAS) Academy
ASPIRA Association, Inc.
Washington, DC
Contact: Al Staropoli, 202-835-3600

The Math and Science Academy was created to improve the low representation and achievement rates of Latinos in math and science. Since 1995, the MAS Academy has served hundreds of students and parents in Miami and Chicago. The ASPIRA MAS Academy aims to positively affect middle school, Latino youth by offering constructive, after-school and summer activities, including tutoring, field trips, counseling, family involvement activities, hands-on math and science activities, and other support activities that help students remain in school and progress to the next academic level.

Each year, the MAS Academy kicks off with a meeting of parents, students, and teachers to discuss the goals of the Academy. At this time, parents, teachers, and tutors meet one another, and together, they talk about the importance of math and science education. Throughout the year students gather in small groups to perform hands-on math and science activities with teachers or college tutors in the areas of general science, biology, physics, earth sciences, and math. The Academy also fosters math and science education through visits to scientific institutions (e.g., museums, zoos, research institutions) and career planning. Through videos, books, brochures, and other mediums, students are introduced to a multitude of careers in math and science. Latino scientists, mathematicians, engineers and other technology specialists visit students in the program and interact with them informally, answering questions about what it's like and what it takes to be a scientist.

Outcomes of the MAS Academy include measurable changes in the motivational and educational levels of participants, awareness of the role of math and science in their future, an increase in family involvement in the education of children, and stronger linkages among scientists, educators, and science and educational institutions. One student commented: "In school we learned a lot about science and math [but] in the MAS program we learned about it in a fun way." The program will be expanded to New York City and Newark this year to serve a yet larger audience of Latino students.
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