Project Update: Building Connections and Looking Ahead

As my time in Morocco unfolds, I’m finding that so much of this project is about building connections—one conversation, one visit, one new idea at a time. One of the best parts of this journey so far has been meeting people who are already doing incredible work in STEM education here in Morocco. Every new connection gives me fresh perspective—not just on the local landscape, but also on my own teaching and how I can grow through this experience.

This month, I connected with eSTEM Morocco, a women-owned organization that has spread across the country to create STEM opportunities for girls in every community. Their story is powerful: women leading the way to ensure the next generation has access, encouragement, and role models in fields where girls are often underrepresented. Listening to their mission, I found myself thinking about my own students back home, and how much it matters for girls everywhere to not just imagine themselves in STEM, but to see others who look like them already doing the work.

I also visited the Rabat MakerSpace, which welcomes boys and girls of all ages to dive into robotics, coding, and hands-on experiments. Walking through the space, I was struck by the energy, and I could picture students tinkering, testing, and laughing as they worked through problems together. It reminded me that the scientific process isn’t just something to be studied in theory—it’s something to be lived, and this space makes that possible. It was a good reminder for me too that the best learning is messy, joyful, and curiosity-driven.

University courses haven’t started quite yet, so right now I’m in the stage of planning and preparation. School visits are on the horizon, and I’m eager to see what teaching and learning look like day to day here.

For now, it feels like I’m gathering threads—conversations, site visits, ideas—and beginning to see how they might weave together. The heart of this project isn’t just research; it’s relationships. And already, those relationships are shaping the way I think about empowering students in STEM.