The BranchOut! Blog

If you walked onto the playground at the John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club in Newton, MA, this past week, you would have seen it: a swarm of middle schoolers cheering, a flurry of straws, tape, and tarps, and raw eggs plummeting from 12 feet in the air. Week 4 of BranchOut!’s Boston summer STEM program was dedicated to Gravity and Engineering, challenging the students to build protective landers to keep their eggs intact. Moving the session outdoors brought a completely new

When Abby Wei, a rising 12th grader at Tabor Academy, stepped into her role as a BranchOut! team leader at the Boys & Girls Club this summer, she brought energy, speed, and a strong drive to succeed. Like many high-achieving student leaders, Abby initially thought leadership meant having all the answers and carrying the weight of the project on her own shoulders. Beyond her work with BranchOut!, Abby harbors a deep passion for marine science and ocean engineering. At Tabor Ac

When attendees log into a BranchOut! Community Workshop, they see a polished, engaging event: esteemed expert panelists, confident student emcees, and seamless, thoughtful conversations. What they don’t see is the weeks of intense preparation, persistent outreach, and quiet problem-solving happening behind the scenes. Every smooth, 60-minute panel discussion is actually the iceberg peak of hundreds of hours of student teamwork.

This past week, BranchOut! students proved that geographical distance is no barrier to making a difference. From the suburbs of Virginia to the neighborhood parks of Newton, Massachusetts, our mentors took grassroots fundraising into their own hands to support the Dunstan Wai Foundation and the underserved girls it serves. The goal? Raise vital funds for young and orphaned women in South Sudan and Northern Uganda—where illiteracy rates reach up to 81%. Knowing that just $650

When 20+ eager young innovators stepped into the Richard Byrd Library in Springfield, VA, on Saturday, July 25th, they were met with a simple yet formidable task: build the ultimate bridge out of plastic straws and construct a towering skyscraper using only index cards. What followed was two hours of sheer creativity, intense teamwork, and breakthrough moments. As one of BranchOut!’s largest community STEAM Camp sessions of the summer in the DMV area (DC/MD/VA), the event