Young Dragons is a six-week summer camp for middle school students in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone, developed in partnership with The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation and the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement. All program activities relate to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Design, and Math), with a special emphasis on integrated interdisciplinary approaches to learning. Students participate at no cost, and in 2019 the camp served more than 50 students per day.

Through the support of the Promise Neighborhood program and the Office of University and Community Partnerships, we are pleased to announce this new call for one-week STEAM enrichment programs to be part of Young Dragons 2020. Accepted proposals will receive $5-10K to deploy their activities with camp students. The amount of funding will depend on duration (half vs. full day programs) and number of students served per day (minimum of 20, up to 60). We anticipate funding 2-4 new activities for 2020, depending on submissions.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals should offer STEAM-themed activities appropriate for middle school students (5th-8th grade, ages 10-14). Activities must be available to all students (no selection process is allowed, although single-gender activities may be considered).

Funding can be used for instructors, assistants, equipment and supplies unique to the proposed program, and transportation / admissions fees (for special field trips). Indirect costs (organizational or institutional overhead) will not be supported and should not be included.

The Young Dragons program is based at Ryan Hall (with multiple classroom spaces), part of Drexel’s Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships. We will provide the following support infrastructure, which should not be included in your budget:

• Recruitment and signup: Marketing, applications, and permission/release forms
• On-site administration: attendance, check-in/check-out, contact with parents/guardians
• Student counselors: support staff for camp functions 
• Meals and snacks: light breakfast, snacks, and a nutritious lunch
• Some photos or short video of select activities

Submissions must originate from a Drexel faculty or professional staff member representing a University unit. External collaborations are possible, but will be thoroughly reviewed during the application process. Submissions originating from external organizations are by invitation only.

Awardees will be responsible for completing all required background checks and any special consent forms. Please reviewDrexel’s Protection of Minors website for more information.

Research projects involving data collection from participants are allowed, but must be approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Young Dragons program director prior to the start of camp. 

About STEAM: We are interested in submissions from all individual STEAM fields, but we particularly encourage programs that propose activities integrating Arts & Design with one or more STEM disciplines. While submissions can be novel and exploratory, proposals must demonstrate high probability for student engagement and learning throughout the week.

Application and program timeline:

• Submission deadline: January 17, 2020
• Award announcement: February 4, 2020
• 2020 program schedule finalized: February 28, 2020
• Enrollment: March-June, 2020
• Orientation and training: May 2020
• Young Dragons 2020: June-July, 2020

Submissions will be reviewed by the Young Dragons program director and staff. Awarded projects will be required to participate in program orientation and training sessions prior to camp (in May 2020).

Application Instructions

Each proposal document is limited to 2 pages, plus 1 budget page, which should be submitted as a single PDF attachment through the application form. The proposal document must include the following:

• Project Team: Include all members - first name, last name, department, email address
• Recruiting description: A one-paragraph description of your proposed activity, appropriate for a camp catalog or brochure, designed to appeal to prospective students and families.
• Curriculum outline: A summary of your program, broken down in terms of sub-activities by days or smaller periods (either a narrative or a table is fine for this section). If you plan to break into smaller subgroup activities, please indicate that here.
• Learning objectives: Provide the learning goals and anticipated outcomes of your week’s activities.
• Assessment: Describe your plans for learning assessment (how will you assess what students have gained from your program?).
• Facility requirements: Describe the space/facility needs for your activity (e.g., Is one classroom sufficient? Do you require a projector, whiteboard, etc.?).
• Additional needs / requests (optional): Please note plans for any off-site activities (field trips, visits to Drexel or external labs or facilities).

Budget (1 page or less): As detailed as possible / reasonable (e.g., “$250 for 5x microcontroller kits”, as opposed to “$250 for supplies”.) Funding can be used for instructors, assistants, equipment and supplies unique to the proposed program, and transportation / admissions fees (for special field trips). Indirect costs (organizational or institutional overhead) will not be supported and should not be included. 

Apply Here!