By Ruth Acolaste (YES 2017-18, Ghana, hosted with IRIS in Des Moines, IA)

The spirit of volunteerism that has been inculcated into my life from my year on the YES program has been one of the best things that happened to me during my exchange year. Granted the opportunity to experience how life changing a gesture of volunteerism could be, I have been able to learn how to make even the little acts of voluntary service count.

One of the subject areas that I became really interested in during my exchange year is STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics). Having never heard of it before my exchange year, I was really interested in STEM. With the help of our school improvement leader and my teachers, I was able to get involved in STEM and I can boldly say that the benefits are innumerable. Coming back home and realizing the lack of knowledge about STEM and lack of activities for students during the holidays, I decided to organize vacation classes for students.

During these class sessions, I have been able to introduce the students to the concepts and benefits of STEM. Every weekday during the school vacations, I teach approximately 25-30 students ages 13-15 years. We are currently studying mathematics and, if possible, we will move on to science and the other subjects that make up STEM. With these classes I have been able to promote these subjects and get the students involved and engaged in learning even during the holidays.