STEM Leadership Opportunities for High School Students
High school students can start and lead STEM Sprouts chapters in their schools or communities, bringing free, hands-on STEM education to elementary school students.
What is the chapter leadership opportunity?
STEM Sprouts is a student-led nonprofit providing free, hands-on STEM education to elementary school students through student-run chapters. Each chapter is started and led by students, and a Chapter Lead is the person who gets it going and keeps it running.
It is a way to build real leadership experience while doing community service: you organize the workshops, the team, and the partnerships, and younger students get a first hands-on introduction to STEM. Chapters can be based at a school or in a community.
What does a STEM Sprouts Chapter Lead do?
A Chapter Lead is more than a title. These are the responsibilities that come with running a chapter.
Plan STEM workshops
Choose hands-on activities and run sessions that make science, technology, engineering, and math approachable for elementary school students.
Recruit and coordinate volunteers
Build a team of students who help teach, set up, and keep the chapter running.
Work with schools, libraries, and community partners
Secure places to meet and people to collaborate with.
In Siaya, Kenya, the chapter lead handles school recruitment, negotiations with schools, and partnership logistics.
Organize outreach events
Bring STEM to more students through events beyond the regular sessions.
Adapt or develop activities
Fit lessons to the equipment, space, and age group you actually have.
In Siaya, the chapter is building offline-first and WhatsApp-native because rural schools often lack reliable power and internet.
Manage chapter logistics
Handle scheduling, supplies, budgets, and the everyday details that keep sessions running.
In Siaya, that includes budget proposals and hands-on equipment troubleshooting.
Communicate with STEM Sprouts
Stay connected with the STEM Sprouts team and the wider network of chapters.
Help expand access to STEM education
Reach students who might not otherwise get a hands-on introduction to STEM.
What does chapter leadership look like in practice?
Leading the Siaya chapter in Kenya
Moses Okoth applied to lead STEM Sprouts' chapter in Siaya and Kisumu, Kenya. As Chapter Lead he handles CBO registration, partnership logistics, curriculum design, school recruitment, budget proposals, negotiations with schools, teacher training, and hands-on equipment troubleshooting. The chapter is targeting a cohort launch across 15 schools in Siaya County.
This chapter is led by an experienced community organizer rather than a high school student, but it shows how wide the role can be when a chapter is built from the ground up.
Who can start a STEM Sprouts chapter?
- High school students are at the heart of the model: they start and lead chapters.
- At a school or in a community. Current chapters include school-based chapters such as Alpharetta High School and Osborne High School, and city or regional chapters such as Tampa, Dubai, and Odisha.
- Anywhere in the world. You can apply to start a chapter at your school or in your city, wherever you are.
- What the application asks for: your name, email, school, city and country, what interests you about starting a chapter, and roughly how many students you think would join.
Not sure if you qualify, or whether you need a school affiliation? Email hello@stem-sprouts.org and the team will help.
What does STEM Sprouts provide to chapter leaders?
A Chapter Starter Guide
After you apply, STEM Sprouts emails you the Chapter Starter Guide with what you need to launch a chapter.
Pinboard, free for every chapter
Pinboard is our open-source, browser-based platform for building virtual circuits and coding Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects, with no hardware needed to start.
Explore PinboardFree learning resources
A curated set of free platforms and tools for hands-on STEM activities.
Browse STEM resourcesA worldwide chapter network
Join chapters in the United States, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, and the UAE, and learn from what they are doing.
See STEM Sprouts chapter locations
How do I start a chapter?
Fill out the short chapter application. You will receive the Chapter Starter Guide by email from hello@stem-sprouts.org.
Want to prepare first? Read how to start a student-led STEM chapter. Prefer to join an existing chapter first? Find a STEM Sprouts chapter or learn how chapters work.