Accomplishments and Achievements
Established the ErgEd program in Tulsa Public Schools.
We worked closely with the TPS athletic department, the George Pocock Foundation, and USRowing to initialize and support this program. This included the professional development of Physical Educators and providing coaching support for each P.E. teacher when the unit of rowing first started at each school. It is estimated that 2200 students were able to try rowing for the first time. The following schools were served in the 2021-2022 year: East Central JH, Edison JH, Hale JH, Monroe, Will Rogers, Carver, Memorial JH, and Webster.
The Union Alternative School RowingSTEM Program Starts
This program represents a partnership between Union Public Schools, The Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, and TYRA. The students actively used the RowingSTEM curriculum and apps we have developed to help foster mathematics and science concepts integrated into their rowing activities. The program also featured two visits to the rowing tank at TU where the students were provided with coaching from TYRA Staff. In late March, the students experienced rowing on the water for the first time, which was a major benchmark for this program.
Our summer camps saw 40 enrollments during three one-week camps.
Fifteen students were supported through an Opportunity Project ELI grant and had the opportunity to try rowing for the first time for free. This achievement marks a major improvement for the club to provide TPS students the chance to row on the water and receive coaching. See the data section below.
We sent three athletes to the USRowing National Championship regatta.
This was the first time we had attended the regatta since 2014. This represents an excellent benchmark for our relatively small competitive program and will provide the impetus for our efforts to develop national recognition in the rowing community. Find out more.
Our Director of Outreach, Neil Bergenroth, presented our RowingSTEM program at a STEM Ecosystems conference in Bay City thanks to the support of the Schusterman Family Philanthropies Foundation.
The conference was attended by 400 people affiliated with various STEM organizations across the nation and the world. As a result of the conference, we were contacted by an Israeli organization HaGal Sheli which has developed a STEM program integrated with surfing. They were impressed with our curriculum and are looking for ways to partner and share best practices in the interdisciplinary area of STEM and Sports opportunities.
For more information on HaGal Sheli, please view this informational video. We have since connected HaGal Sheli with the Schusterman Family Philanthropies Foundation in Tulsa, OK.
RowingSTEM has just been updated to reflect our branding.
The iOS app now features an enhanced learning-to-row curriculum, and improved “WATT can you power game?”. Users now have a broader category of electric devices they can power in the game.
We developed a partnership with STEM to STERN
They are leveraging our RowingSTEM curriculum in some of their satellite programs. Currently, outreach programs in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, are specifically designed to integrate rowing teams with under-resourced youth and BIPOC communities.
New Trailer For The Competitive Team and Outreach Initiatives
We have purchased a new trailer that will help with the transportation of club equipment to serve our competitive and outreach programs. This new capital expenditure will support our ErgEd program and move machines around Tulsa to serve Tulsa Public Schools.
Technology Outreach
We presented the RowingSTEM software and outreach programs at 36 Degrees North in September during a tech night. The session was well attended and provided a platform for more exposure to our mission of inclusion and belonging in community rowing.
Professional Development for RowingSTEM
We organized professional development for local area teachers to learn more about our RowingSTEM curriculum and leverage our technology to teach STEM competencies to local area students.
Erg Ed Demographics
After conversing with the Tulsa Public Schools Assistant AD, it was estimated that a total of approximately 2200 middle school students are involved with the program during a typical year.
The district demographics of those students are as follows:
African-American 22.5%
Asian/Pacific-Islander 3.2%
Hispanic 37.1%
Multi-racial 10.7%
Native American 4.6%
White 29%
The following schools ran an ErgEd Program during the 2021-2022 School Year
East Central, Edison JH/HS, Hale JH, Monroe, RogersJH/HS, Carver, Memorial, Webster
STEM To STERN Partnership Data (Data from National Reach)
As mentioned in the summary above; we partnered with STEM to STERN an organization that promotes the integration of rowing programs in communities. Our RowingSTEM curriculum was used by two of their partner clubs.
The following data was provided by Rachel Hunter (Director of STEM at STEM to STERN)
“We have had two programs use the gROW Tulsa programming so far in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. You have impacted 20 students this year, with 25% being black/African American and 75% Hispanic. Feedback from our clubs is that the programming is a great way to engage students with rowing and STEM at the same time, and it hits on a wide range of topics to allow students exposure to a good variety of subjects.”
Data For the 2021-2022 Year
Includes data from Monroe (during the school year) and summer camps during June and July at McClain High School and Club Learn To Row Camps in Catoosa (water programs).
The following data was collected by The Opportunity Project for the time span of 2018 through 2022.
If you would like to support our efforts to expand the reach of rowing in the community or have questions about our RowingSTEM outreach, please contact Director of Outreach Neil Bergenroth at neil@okrowing.org.
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