About Us
Candy Aboelnour, CEO and Founder of Thinkers & Makers STEAM, has extensive leadership experience through her years in the corporate industry. She has participated in various community initiatives for over 15 years. During her community work, she discovered her passion in developing youth as a mentor and educator.
Candy is a member of ITEEA and a certified STEAM Education curriculum writer with STEAM Education. She has over three years of experience conducting STEAM Education workshops in classrooms and during her summer workshops.
Thinkers & Makers STEAM is recognized by New Jersey Board of Education as a STEAM education vendor and currently works with private schools to conduct STEAM education classes.
Ages 5 - 10 years old
2021 Summer STEAM Program
We are a unique STEAM program because we don't just do hands-on STEAM projects. Your child doesn't have to like coding, building, art or even love science or math to enjoy our program. We offer a little bit of everything and add a little something special to make it exciting.
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Junior Youth mentorship program (JYM)
INSPIRING FUTURE LEADERS
Our Junior Youth Mentorship program is geared towards participants between 11-14 years of age. We created this program to inspire younger youth to take on leadership roles.
Children in this age group usually feel like they don't belong to a group because they are either too old or too young. We created a space for them to take on leadership roles by giving them opportunities to share their ideas and allow them to help solve problems. Participants are given the opportunity to act as a big brother / sister with our younger groups.
JYM participants will shadow our Program Counselors who will also act as a mentor to them. We offer training on how to work with children, coding, time management and instructing lessons. If additional supplies are available, they may even have an opportunity to build their own projects.
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Additional services available at Pillars
One-stop shop
In need of childcare? Do you have a 4 year old who doesn't qualify for the STEAM program age limit? Maybe you're in need of additional services in addition to our STEAM program. We got you covered. Pillars Preparatory Academy is providing these additional services at the same site where the STEAM program will be held.
Pillars Summer Program
community projects
HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW TOGETHER
TMS understands the importance of community and working together. We are committed to bringing STEAM programs to students who normally don't have access in their school or are financially unable to participate.
During the summer of 2020, we dusted off our sewing machines and began making masks which were donated to Pillars Preparatory Academy and surrounding South River community as well as St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick. We donated over 200 handmade masks.
This summer we will offer free coding classes to students who reside in South River, NJ. We are currently finalizing details with a collaborator and we can't wait to share the program details. Make sure you return to our site or visit our FB page for updates.
Free 5 Day Workshop
Are you a South River, NJ student in 6 or 7th grade? Would you like to learn how to code Mbot? Complete the application below to enroll in the lottery.
WHY CHOOSE THINKERS & mAKERS STEAM?
We are the only program of it's kind. Our motto is "we inspire and mentor young innovators". While many programs aim to mentor youth, most fail at inspiring them.
When our students participate in hands-on STEAM projects we encourage them to embrace their creativity. We don't want to see cookie cutter projects, we want them to tweak it and make it their own. This simple act allows them to think outside of the box. Our students begin to understand that their work doesn't have to be like everyone else and that the same idea can be reached in many different ways.
Most importantly, when we conduct our projects, whether it be creating an invention or coding, we always explore the why and the how. For example, many other programs tell students to make a drawing art bot, and although they may tell them why they are making it, they fail to make real world connections. What is the purpose of the art bot and how does it connect to the community? Who can benefit from the project and what alternative tools can we use to make it better? These are some of the questions that we ask and that is why each student leaves with more skills and a better understanding of what they did. This act inspires curiosity and encourages them to want to learn more.
Learn More about our summer program
Each project we create is well thought out and we ourselves are extremely excited to share these projects. It's almost like we are a kid in a candy store and the students can sense our excitement for each project.