STEAM on WHEELS

In honor of Black History Month, we profile one of the many Black-founded and Black-led nonprofits in the Quad Cities community: STEAM on Wheels.
In the Chicago neighborhood where Sam McCullum grew up, the local out-of-school-time programs were mostly sports-oriented, with very few choices for students with a more academic bent. Sam saw the same issues here in the Quad Cities while earning his engineering degree at Western Illinois University.

Armed with his own background in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and his experiences as a counselor and mentor at his local Boys and Girls Club and YMCA, Sam decided that he could provide learning opportunities for the science-minded kids like him in our community. In 2018, he founded STEAM on Wheels.
STEAM on Wheels hosts 75 science, technology, engineering, art, and math programs each year at its Bettendorf Family Museum lab; in Rock Island, East Moline, Davenport and Bettendorf schools; and at community organizations such as the Martin Luther King Center, YouthHope, and Spring Forward. Classes teach scientific principles to students ages 5 to 18 through hands-on experiences such as building a simple circuit, creating a stop-motion animated movie, and making items using a 3-D printer and laser cutter. As a side benefit, STEAM education also teaches students motor skills, mathematical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and critical thinking.

STEAM on Wheels became a client of Wastyn & Associates only a year ago. In that time, we have written 21 grant applications for them. To date, 10 of those applications have received funding, raising more than $125,000. STEAM on Wheels has now asked Wastyn & Associates to facilitate their strategic planning process and grow their board, hoping to take their organization – and the students they serve – to the next level.