Nature Works Studios is a three-year, youth-based program for 45 Chicago area youth. It is a year-round program with a summer component that focuses on environmental science and technology education. There is a major focus on job skills training together with work experience that respond to the general labor shortage for well-prepared science and technology professionals to fuel the 21st Century economy.

Project LA COSTA was a three-year, youth-based ITEST project sponsored by the Texas State University - San Marcos. The project created a computer science academy to provide IT experiences for 250 Hispanic students during their 8th-10th grades across 5 central and south Texas school districts. Students will start on the project beginning with 8th grade and continue until they are in 10th grade. The project is named "LA COSTA," which implies "a vocational vista for students".

The St. Louis Science Center and Education Development Center, Inc. will implement this Youth-based ITEST project. "YES-2-Tech" is designed to create a model out-of-school program aimed at providing disadvantaged teens with academic and workplace opportunities and means to connect IT and STEM skills to their futures and careers. The project introduces teens to real-life technology applications and challenges through ongoing peer and mentoring relationships.

Over three years, YouthLink will engage 120 teens in informal, IT-intensive educational experiences that promote IT skills identified by national NETS standards and develop student interest in IT-intensive study and careers. Historically underrepresented populations – low-income students, students of color, girls, disabled, teen parents, and second language learners – are recruited through established partnerships with San Francisco’s educational and non-profit organizations.

George Mason University hosts this youth-based program in which the primary goal is to increase motivation, achievement, and exposure to STEM content of students from urban public schools by having them work with scientists and experts to design and build educational games that can be utilized by other students and teachers. The project is a partnership between George Mason University and McKinley Technology High School in Washington, DC. It will include 100 high school students from McKinley and other high schools and 100 middle school students from urban schools.

The High School Enterprise (HSE) project builds on earlier successes with college students and extends that strategy to eight high schools through an after-school program. The project establishes and assesses a model which uses students from grades 9-12 organized into active, applied STEM learning communities focused on client needs. HSE teams participate in "virtual" companies that provide technical services to actual clients and develop products intended for ultimate distribution through the marketplace. HSE team projects are STEM-based with an emphasis on ICT.

This Strategies project seeks to provide year round programming following an intensive summer camp for teachers and students from middle schools in a rural area. It proposes to build on the Games that Teach research at MIT, and the games research of the Digital Collaboratory at UT-Austin, to give teachers the skills they need to design educational game components in team situations with students. The approach is to use 3-D visualizations, physics engines and other gaming strategies to relate abstract math and science concepts to real world phenomenon.

The University of Florida proposes to provide 51 teachers and over 3600 students with an interesting experience and opportunities for biotechnology learning. This project will create a computer-based game and supporting curriculum for promoting workforce development in the area of biotechnology; prepare teachers to implement the game and supporting curriculum through a summer professional development program; and determine how the game and supporting curriculum affects student disposition towards careers in biotechnology and understanding of biotechnology content.

The Harlem Children Society (HC) was established in 2000 with 3 students from 2 schools by a research scientist at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The project now serves 800 students from over 150 schools with 1500 mentors at 150 institutions. HCS seeks NSF support to focus on the critical IT skills involved in bioinformatics, molecular biology, and protein chemistry, and on the innovative uses of technology for collaboration, communication, and community involvement.

The Conference on Cyberlearning Tools for STEM (CyTSE) brings together scientists, cyberlearning developers, educational researchers, STEM educators (formal and informal), curriculum developers and other stakeholders that contribute to the agenda on K-12 STEM cyberlearning and workforce preparation. Collaborators include Northwestern University, University of Colorado at Boulder, and the WGBH Educational Foundation. This informative meeting will be held as a NSTA pre-conference workshop.