The Montgomery County STEAM Camp and the Virginia STEAM Camp have worked hard this past week! Co-directing the Montgomery County (MC) STEAM Camp this year are David Liu, a rising 12th grader at Episcopal High School, and Richard Zhu, a rising 12th grader at Richard Montgomery High School. Meanwhile, directing the Virginia (VA) STEAM Camp this year is Elizabeth Li, a rising 12th grader at Oakton High School. For the first week of the program, David Liu, Richard Zhu and the MC

BranchOut!’s annual training and open house event took place on Friday, June 21st, 2024, at 7 PM EST. BranchOut! leaders David Cao and Dr. Linfeng Chen, a member of the Howard County Public School Systems Board of Education, encouraged new and returning members to grow and explore their passions. This year, David Cao, a rising Harvard freshman who has been a BranchOut! mentor since middle school, kicked off the training event. He began by talking about his transformative expe

After a summer filled with new developments, lifelong connections, and hundreds of service hours logged, the BranchOut! Student Leadership team worked tirelessly to plan one last event: our 8th anniversary celebration and program wrap-up. On October 7th, 2023, BranchOut! mentors (and some potential new ones) gathered via zoom for an evening of performances, speeches, and reflections. If you were unable to attend this event live, keep reading on to get a taste of the growth an

Calling all BranchOut! members: past and present! You and your families are invited to celebrate BranchOut!'s 8th Anniversary on Saturday, October 7th at 7pm - 9pm ET. Join us as we celebrate all the new growth and success you have helped BranchOut! achieved over the past year. Join us as we celebrate you! This virtual event will function as both a Celebration for current BranchOut! mentors and an Open House for those interested in joining next summer. This event features...

Debuting its Boston chapter this summer, BranchOut! partnered with the Community Art Center (CAC) in Cambridge, MA by supporting their Art Rocks! summer camp. The Community Art Center was first founded by local parents in 1937, and has since provided a welcoming community space for generations of families. Its mission is “to cultivate an engaged community of youth whose powerful artistic voices transform their lives, their neighborhoods, and their worlds.” BranchOut! is honor

BranchOut! hosted its summer 2023 picnic to celebrate the end of a successful summer on Sunday, August 13, 2023, at the Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda, Maryland with 60+ students, alumni, and parents in attendance. We want to thank the student leaders who worked very hard to make the event happen. Below are their post-event reflections. "The BranchOut! Summer 2023 picnic was incredibly moving as I got to see how much we’ve managed to accomplish across all of BranchOut!’

BranchOut! hosted its summer 2023 picnic to celebrate the end of a successful summer on Sunday, August 13, 2023, at the Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda, Maryland with 60+ students, alumni, and parents in attendance. We were excited to see many of BranchOut!’s mentors at the picnic, meeting other mentors and students whom they have worked with online this summer. Mentors made quick friends with each other, bonding in discussions and playing games like frisbee and mafia. T

To thank our mentors for their hard work this summer, BranchOut! is hosting a potluck-style Picnic to provide a fun opportunity for mentors to meet each other in person and network. BranchOut! alumni as well as parents/family members and friends are welcome to join this event. The BranchOut! Fall Picnic information Date: Sunday, August 13th, 2023 (rain or shine!) Time: 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM Location: Cabin John Regional Park: 7400 Tuckerman LN, Bethesda, MD, 20817 at Picnic Shel

As the first week of BranchOut! drew to a close, the team wants to take a moment to celebrate the successful start. We are happy to see our student volunteers demonstrating exceptional teamwork and achieving fantastic team and personal milestones. During the first week, the different teams and programs showed tremendous enthusiasm and determination. Here is a recap of what each team did: The Innovators team hit the ground running in their first week, displaying an exceptional

Back by popular demand! BranchOut! had a successful STEAM camp last summer at the Pohick Library in Virginia, and we are excited to bring back the same fun and educational program this year to students in Maryland! BranchOut! x Montgomery County STEAM CAMP is now at Rockville Memorial Library every Sunday morning from 10 AM - 12 PM, from July 9th to August 13th, for six weeks. The MC STEAM CAMP provides 3rd to 8th graders the opportunity to discover their interest in STEM thr

BranchOut!’s annual training and open house event took place on Saturday, June 24th, 2023 at 9 AM EST. During this event, we heard from two community leaders, Mr. Vincent Yee and Ms. Mona Roy, who discussed the importance of civic engagement. We also heard from Dr. Yuhsien Wu, co-founder of BranchOut!, who gave a presentation on how to be a leader. New and returning members alike were inspired by the stories and motivation the speakers had to offer. Our training event kicked

On Sunday, June 11th, BranchOut! student leaders met in the Vienna BranchOut! office to discuss plans for the upcoming 6/24 training event and the rest of the summer. The meeting brought together new and experienced BranchOut! leaders from across three states and ten different schools. The leadership team discussed the upcoming programs and schedules for the training event and built ideas on top of each other. Returning mentors were able to use previous years’ experiences to

BranchOut! Boston is excited to partner with a Harvard-affiliated youth shelter organization in Cambridge, which is the nation’s first youth-led homeless shelter. Seeking to support community organizations and promote cultural understanding, the BranchOut! team was drawn to the mission of Y2Y to offer programming to “interrupt the cycle of homelessness for a generation of young adults.” At any time, you can find Y2Y’s facility, which was designed with the goal to make its gue

BranchOut! Boston had a fantastic time volunteering at Port Arts Fest in Cambridge, MA this past Sunday, May 21st. Hosted by the Community Art Center, this community-based festival features a mural competition and attracts a large and enthusiastic crowd each year. This event marked BranchOut!'s first volunteer action in the Boston area. Kudos, BranchOut!. We look forward to our upcoming collaboration with the Community Art Center this summer! If you are interested in joining