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...

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

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

Last Sunday, BranchOut! hosted its first in-person leadership meeting. The event was attended by a diverse group of students excited to learn from one another and collaborate on initiatives for the organization. As a program that strives to connect communities, the leadership team at BranchOut! is reflective of such, with students from eight different schools across Maryland and Virginia. The in-person environment promoted an open and engaging experience for the attendees. Th

Parents, students, and distinguished guests attended BranchOut!’s 7th anniversary on Saturday, October 15th at 7pm ET on Zoom. In this Celebration/Open House event, we highlighted the growth and hard work of our students and why student volunteers should join (or continue to join) the BranchOut! family! During the event, we presented awards/recognitions, including the President’s Volunteer Service Award, Congressional Recognition certificate signed by Senator Tim Kaine, as we

BranchOut! hosted a picnic to celebrate the end of a successful summer on Saturday, September 10th at the Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda, Maryland. About 60 people attended the event, where our attendees not only got to taste the delicious food, but also got to network and bond as a team. We were especially glad that many of BranchOut!’s Howard County Chapter (HoCo) student mentors were able to attend this event, which is the first social event we have had since the pan

To thank our mentors for their hard work this summer, BranchOut! is hosting a potluck-style Fall 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: Saturday, September 10th, 2022 (rain or shine!) Time: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM Location: Cabin John Regional Park: 7400 Tuckerman LN, Bethesda, MD, 20817 at

On December 2nd, 2019, BranchOut!’s Innovator team won third place overall in Virginia District 10 in the Congressional App Challenge (CAC), a national competition for students to create an app and present it to the public. Innovator is a team consisting of 20+ students from different schools and backgrounds. The team consists of three sub-teams: Developers, Curriculum Design, and Marketing. The Developer team programs and designs the app using tools such as Android Studio a

Sunday, October 13th, 2019 is the fourth annual BranchOut! celebrate event. About 300 people from DC, Maryland, and Virginia gathered at the Kreeger Auditorium to attend this regional event. This year, we had Tony lodge, Ryan McElveen, and Paul Li as guest speakers. The guest speakers talked about their experiences, insight, and support of STEM education in society as well as cultural interaction. There were also several ethnic student groups performing this year, ranging f

As the school year ends, many high school students struggle to find the answer to one question of what they will do over the summer. With a plethora of options to choose from, from a summer job to tackling summer online PE, students tirelessly search for an activity that will allow them to explore their passion and stand out amidst hundreds of other high school students. This requires an activity that is fun, rewarding, and beneficial for both parties involved. BranchOut! is