STEM Alternative Spring Break is a part of the Riverways Rural & Tribal Programs through the Community Engagement and Leadership Education (CELE) Center at UW. Although similar, each of these programs has their own unique mission statement. In order to take into account both the mission statements of our parent programs and our personal goals, we had to develop our own mission. Making this mission is only half of the process though, we had to consistently come back to what was on the mission and build the curriculum around it. By building a curriculum around a mission instead of the other way around, we were able to integrate our most important principles from the ground up. 

Another huge motivator for me was the implications of making a positive difference for students typically overlooked by the school system. Neah Bay is a tiny, isolated town on the tip of Washington State home to the Makah people. The Makah have an extremely tight-knit and culturally rich community, but indigenous people still face immense amounts of discrimination in the US. By traveling to Neah Bay and teaching these students about concepts they had never heard about before and may have never had the chance to learn about, I was helping to break down structural barriers that keep indigenous students from going to college or even aspiring to go to college. Not only was I able to go to this community and teach, but I was able to be a part of a long-standing program and build on a curriculum that will help students in the years to come.