About RAMP

For the underserved communities, access to quality STEM education remains an elusive process, with many hurdles coming along every step of the way. Additionally, there is very little emphasis on the practice and experiment-based approach of learning, which really is the cornerstone of scientific learning and education. An absence of competitive chances and advantages for the underserved is one of the major reasons for that; something we are hoping to address through our social project Rural Access Mentorship Program, or, RAMP. 

Through a repository of original resources and documents, project RAMP benefits from tried and tested, project-based methods of learning, which are imparted to underrepresented communities, so as to build on their skills as well rounded professionals. RAMP aims to create a new generation of diverse, innovative, and skilled STEM leaders, who can contribute to the betterment of their communities and society as a whole. As part of the Rural Access Mentorship Program (RAMP), we have developed the ‘Ramping Up Curriculum’ to address the challenges faced by underrepresented communities in accessing quality STEM education. The curriculum was designed to introduce mentors to the nuances and intricacies of mentorship and advice on building a mentor-mentee relationship with a particular focus on effective and efficient instruction in science and mathematics concepts and principles. 

In order to make a greater impact on underserved communities and extend the reach of the RAMP project, volunteers are enlisted from a school to work with small groups of students on projects of their own devised through project-based mentoring. Recognizing the importance of supporting these volunteers, a Mentor Match Method is developed which consists of a short handbook that outlines the seven stages of research projects. This methodology helps to ensure that volunteers can provide effective and efficient instruction in Science and Mathematics concepts and principles while also fostering an open relationship with their mentee. 

RAMP will also be partnering with the Official Burke County Science Fair, slated to be held in December 2023, in an effort to provide a platform for the robust, and critically thought out science project developed as part of the RAMP Mentorship Network. The projects displayed will reflect a culmination of the diligence and determination of grade 5 students from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.