A group of children standing on the sidewalk squealed in excitement as a procession of six dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) roared past them on a frigid April morning. The bikers showed off their tricks, leaning back as their front wheels lifted off the ground in vertical wheelies. One rider became enveloped in a cloud of smoke as he swiveled his bike around in circles. It was an atypical recess for the students at Chicago’s Genevieve Melody Stem elementary school.
The demonstration was hosted by B-360, a Baltimore-based non-profit organization that hosts a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) program for students under 16 to learn how to build, code, design and 3D print model-size robot dirt bikes. In an effort to expand its programming to other cities, B-360 staff and volunteers taught the students Stem principles through hands-on experiments and bike demonstrations. By learning the mechanics and safety behind dirt bikes, the Chicago school’s principal, Tiffany Tillman, said she hoped the majority Black student body will “know they have different opportunities to always be successful”.
