Roeper School Junior, Nathaniel Lee, was one of ten students chosen nationwide to be a part of the National C-STEM Youth Commission, a service learning program developed by C-STEM Teacher & Student Support Services, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The Youth Commission is tasked with researching and implementing ideas on academic achievements gaps, drop-out rates and low participation within STEM among minority students. Students share their research with communities and elected leaders.

Nate is 16 years old and came to Roeper as a 9th grader in 2013.  He loves building robots and is on the Roeper Robotics team.  Nate also excels in Roeper’s athletic program having been on the varsity soccer and basketball teams since his freshman year. He also played baseball in his freshman year, winning 2nd Team All-Conference and ran track in his sophomore year.  Nate is proud to have been a starter on the history-making Roeper State Soccer Championship Team in 2014.  Last summer he worked for Meals on Wheels delivering meals to home-bound seniors.  He enjoyed helping the seniors and making huge quantities of jello. Nate is also a member of the Detroit Kappa League, a leadership development program.

Over the next nine months, Nate and the other youth commissioners will research and complete a presentation for the C-STEM Board of Directors and The Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. Nate recently participated in the initial meeting of his cohort at Texas Southern University.

The $85,000 grant for this project was awarded to C-STEM by The State Farm Youth Advisory Board.