Meet Brooke Casselberry and Kim Godell of Youth STEM Foundation in Golden

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Casselberry and Kim Godell.

Brooke and Kim, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Youth STEM Foundation was founded in April of 2019 to provide scholarship type funding for financially at-risk students to after school STEM programs. Kim is a Licensed Professional Counselor who works closely with students and families in the Denver Public School system. She provides trauma based therapy to kids who are going through difficulties either at home or are part of the foster care system looking for home permanency. She was working with a particular boy who needed a home.

After listening to his life story, the question was raised in my mind, what can I do to help this population? Both of our kids attend after school programs. One, in particular, is “Coding with Kids.” We thought, perhaps, we can provide funding for some of these children so they can also attend after school programs and get additional education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) programs. So we founded Youth STEM Foundation as a non-profit program. As part of the development of Youth STEM Foundation, we contacted the local lead for Coding With Kids and worked out an agreement for placement with their program.

Has it been a smooth road?
Starting anything from the ground up has its challenges, but it also has its rewards. We have received moral and some financial support through family and friends and the schools we have worked with so far in the Denver Public School system have been eager to help. Some of the challenges that we have faced are the lives of many of the kids are not static. Meaning things change for them, sometimes a lot, and sometimes quickly. What we have developed so far has been strictly through our own means and efforts. Our website, social awareness, and operational management is conducted by our team through our volunteer time.

We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Our non-profit focuses on STEM as we see the growing need for people in the workforce who have a technical aptitude. Much of how we interact with the environment has some level of technology associated with it, and manual hands-on jobs are becoming less abundant. If we are able to help develop, even one kid, so they can define a future for themselves that provides independence and financial autonomy, then we feel that we are doing something good to contribute. What is unique about Youth STEM Foundation versus many of the other, very good and admirable non-profits, is we are not providing the education ourselves. There are many for-profit and other organizations that manage this very well, so we are instead simply providing the opportunity to cover the cost for kids to participate in these programs.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Denver and the metro area is really a wonderful place. We feel very blessed to be here and part of the community. The changes and growth in this city is happening so fast, we look forward to seeing what it will be like in the next ten years and where the kids we are working with today will be, perhaps some might even be enrolling in their first year at Mines.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.YouthSTEMFoundation.org
• Email: info@youthstemfoundation.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YouthSTEMFoundation/

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