Wentworth Institute of Technology: Wentworth and the Community

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Wentworth and the Community

An important part of a Wentworth education is the focus on projects that connect students, faculty, and community organizations using hands-on learning that extends outside the classroom. These projects have a pronounced social impact — they benefit the community and business, enrich relationships between the Institute and its neighbors, and provide competitive advantage for Wentworth students as they enter the workforce.

These projects include:

service learning projects that apply skills learned in the classroom
community-based projects, like re-designing Roslindale’s Main Street
after-school enrichment programs for children and youth
soil remediation efforts in New Orleans

In addition, Wentworth is actively engaged in promoting interest in engineering, technology, and design careers and attracting and inspiring K-12 students into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers.

Wentworth Students in the Community
Connecting faculty, students, and community
to educate and make a difference

Spring break

Center for Community & Learning Partnerships (CLP)
Wentworth's Center for Community & Learning Partnerships (CLP) facilitates programs that address community needs and enhance each Wentworth student's educational experience.

The Center focuses on the student's capacities for technology, management, design, and youth/family outreach to help local non-profits and community groups overcome their individual challenges. Recent projects include

A wireless initiative in Mission Hill
Roslindale's Main Street design project
Volunteer income tax assistance to neighborhood residents
OpenLab, which provides walk-in access to computers and the Internet

Alternative Spring Break
The Alternative Spring Break service learning project began in 2006, with Wentworth students traveling to the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans to gut a house, conduct a community design charrette, document the urban site, and prepare master plans for re-development of the square. The second and third trips focused on design and construction, and Wentworth students and faculty have donated thousands of hours of volunteer efforts to allow the People’s Environmental Center to begin offering services.
(See photos.)

Promoting College Access
Working with local high school and middle school students

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

The following programs are designed to increase higher education opportunities in K-12 schools, integrate and support several students from Boston public schools, and promote diversity by encouraging women and under-represented minorities to pursue careers in STEM fields.

STEM Discovery Summer Program
Wentworth’s three-week summer STEM Discovery program motivates high school students to study in the STEM fields at the introductory college level.

SLAM Math Enrichment Program
Students Loving Adventures in Mathematics (SLAM) is a year-long program for high school students focused on strengthening underrepresented minority math achievement.

Urban Massachusetts Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (UMLSAMP)
Wentworth participates in this eight-school alliance which is dedicated to improving recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority students completing baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields.

Headmaster Summit
Wentworth led a Headmaster Summit for ten headmasters from the Boston Public Schools to discuss creating partnerships to help inspire and attract underrepresented high school students to study careers in STEM.

LMA Gateway Advisory Group
LMA Gateway is a rigorous four-year college preparatory program for inner city students that offers intensive support to talented students at John D. O’Bryant High School to succeed in health care, science, and technology.

MATHCounts Competition
For more than a decade, Wentworth has hosted sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from thirty Massachusetts schools in the state-wide MATHCounts Competition. Wentworth awards full, four-year tuition scholarships to the top four winners.