Two thirds of the high school students trained for free in the CreȘTEM Viitor project passed the Baccalaureate exam

12th grade students who studied STEM subjects in the “CreȘTEM Viitor” program passed the Baccalaureate exam in proportion of 66%. “CreȘTEM Viitor” is a free training project dedicated to high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Romania, supported by the Scoala de Valori, in partnership with the American company Raytheon Missiles & Defense. The highest grades obtained were in computer science, the average being 8.25.

“CreȘTEM Viitor” project carried out by the School of Values, in partnership with the American company Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a division of Raytheon Technologies, came to an end after 10 months of training the beneficiaries. The project, in its second edition, started in October 2021. 30 twelfth grade students from disadvantaged families were selected for the free courses. who have benefited from additional training in STEM subjects (computer science, mathematics and biology). This additional training proved very important, with 66.6% of them subsequently passing the Baccalaureate exam.

“Our society relies more and more on science and technology, and it is our duty to secure its future by encouraging young people to pursue careers in these fields. The Raytheon Missiles & Defense team is dedicated to transforming the future through innovation, so we are very proud to have supported a second edition of CreȘTEM Viitor program, initiated by the Values ​​School Association in Romania. We have met amazing students throughout this program dedicated to improving their lives and initiating higher education in STEM fields, and we are very happy to have contributed to that improvement,” said Mike Ellis, Director, Raytheon Missile & Defense, Eastern Europe Region .

CreȘTEM Viitor project supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrate skills and are passionate about STEM subjects. About a third of the participants included in the second edition of the project belong to families with incomes below 3000 lei, which means an average income for a family member that varies between 250 lei and 1000 lei.

Real assessment of knowledge, intensive training and development of motivation

From October 2021 to July 2022, 30 12th grade students from 19 high schools, from 14 counties, benefited from additional preparation for the Baccalaureate exam. They went through an initial assessment, so that a meditative teacher then followed their progress, in order to know the real level of preparation for the Baccalaureate. From the total number of participants, 15 signed up for mathematics training, 10 for biology and 5 for computer science.

“At the first evaluation of the project, we found that the knowledge level of the enrolled students was not according to the grades, therefore additional training was needed to fill in the gaps, so that they would be ready for the first important exam. The STEM subjects that the project emphasizes, such as computer science, mathematics and biology, help students to orient themselves towards the jobs of the future, and thus the career opportunities will be much more varied. The mentoring sessions gave them the chance to understand the connection between school and the professional path, the need to successfully pass the Baccalaureate and to orientate themselves towards a faculty that can keep up with the demands of the labor market”, states Mirela-Ancuța Samoilă, Communication and PR manager of Scoala de Valori

Each student benefited from 21 courses, thus progress was recorded throughout the project. In computer science, for example, the average improvement from the initial evaluation compared to the Baccalaureate was 1.28 points, in biology, by 1.22 points and in mathematics, by 0.8 points.

At the Baccalaureate, the highest grades were recorded in informatics, where the average of all passing grades reached 8.25. The average for mathematics was 6.02, and for biology, 6.3.

In addition to preparing for the Baccalaureate, the participants also benefited from 2 “Living Library” sessions, during which professionals from Raytheon Missiles & Defense explained to them the importance of studying STEM subjects for their career. The young people also benefited from 3 value-based education workshops aimed at developing their critical thinking and skills and helping them manage their vulnerabilities. They also participated in the mentoring sessions, where the focus was on approaching the Baccalaureate exam. All these sessions aimed to inspire the students, discover their values, train their potential and develop their social skills for a successful career.

Most of the students in the project want to stay in the country: 82% of them want to attend a university in Romania, and 18% want to find a job, full-time, but which will value their passions. For them, college will come to complement the skills they will gain by working.

The young woman Cozinia Motronu benefited from free meditations in computer science: “They helped me to recover the subject lost during the pandemic and to go from a 6.70, in the simulation, to an 8.85 in the Baccalaureate exam. I also attended several workshops, which developed different skills such as persuasion and emotional intelligence. We had the opportunity to virtually meet some employees from the company Raytheon Missiles & Defense, who talked to us about the STEM field and what the steps would be that we should go through to have a career in the field. I want to study informatics at the Academy of Economic Sciences in Bucharest and after finishing my studies work in the IT field”.

About SCOALA DE VALORI
Scoala de Valori ​​is a non-governmental and non-profit educational organization, established in 2009, which guides young people to train their potential, so that they develop prosocial attitudes and behaviors that will help them in life and career . Its mission is to help young people become creators of their own lives, being the only association in Romania that implements value-centered education in its programs – an educational model that involves the development of skills divided into four areas: character development, personality exploration, civic involvement and well – being.

About Raytheon Missiles & Defense

Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a division of the American company Raytheon Technologies, provides its global customers with the most advanced end-to-end solutions for the detection, identification and interception of threats. With an extensive portfolio of anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense systems, precision equipment, radars, command and control systems and advanced defense technologies, Raytheon Missiles & Defense solutions protect citizens, combatant personnel and infrastructure in more than 50 countries worldwide world.