Central to our work is engaging high school as teachers, mentors, and role models who teach their younger peers in applying concepts and ideas from physics, plant science, engineering design, and coding to design and build a smart automated desktop-sized greenhouse. In the building of the greenhouse, youth use physical computing where they are learning how to connect coding to the physical world through microcontrollers by programing sensors to collect data and using that data to control devices such as fans, lights, and heaters to maintain appropriate environmental conditions for plants in their greenhouse. To program their greenhouse, students use MakeCode, a web-based block programming interface that connects directly to micro:bit, a powerful and low-cost microcontroller. To support the high school youth's interest in obtaining a post-secondary degree, they are mentored by first generation college students from Lasell University's “Pathways to Diversity” program. We focus our recruitment on youth who have been historically excluded from STEM fields and youth who do not have a particular interest in STEM. As such, another key aspect of our work is the longitudinal nature of our research. Our research has focused on student identity and interest development over time as we have been tracking the impact of participation in our programs as youth progress from participant, to teacher, to youth leader.