Taking pride in work does not generally come naturally to the adolescent; especially when that work originates in their own imagination or idea.

One of our key metrics of success in progress, therefore, is the “I made this face.”

Through our partnership with DOE, we collaborate with thousands of students at their schools to build hands-on projects based on what they are learning in class. This year we are collaborating with 30+ schools, and our Project Designers have fabricated many amazing projects — here are just a few examples.

This month’s installment of our Staff Spotlight series features our Project Designer, Serena Seshadri. In this role, Serena collaborates with other project designers and artists to design projects and teach them at schools.

This month’s installment of Beam’s Staff Spotlight series features Beam's Director of School Partnerships, Jeff Wood. As the Director of School Partnership, Jeff arranges collaborations between school faculty and Beam Project Designers to create ambitious and transformative project-based experiences for young people in their school communities.

The next edition of our Community Spotlight series features Xinchang Gao. Xinchang, who is also known as Edwin, is a Junior Interior Designer at Bennett Leifer Interior, an interior design firm focused on high-end residential projects across the states.

Our Project Designers have been hard at work preparing projects for Spring 2023 and some projects are already in progress. Take a look at the projects below to see what young people are making this spring!

Looking ahead at the new school year, our Project Designers have been hard at work prototyping more exciting projects that will be created by youth. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the projects we’ll be making this year in collaboration with teachers at our partner schools.

This month’s installment of our Staff Spotlight series features Beam Project Designer, Sarah Lammer. As a Project Designer Sarah works collaboratively with teachers from our partner schools to design and facilitate projects in classrooms.

We’re wrapping up the 2021-2022 school year with some more amazing in-school projects, led by Project Designer, Anthony, at I.S. 145 and East Brooklyn Community High School.

Check out this exciting collaboration between 12th grade students at International High School at Prospect Heights, Beam Center, and Beam Project Designer, Pilar Perez, where students are designing their own “Identity Boxes.”