February 2023

IMPACTING the LIVES of STUDENTS

Imagine being a teenager who has suffered through homelessness and abuse. Imagine being told countless times that you were worthless and stupid. This is the case with many of the kids we work with at BRIEF.

During our first semester working with these teens, we learned that they lacked communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. The way they expressed or exhibited this lack was quite revealing.

Meet Sophia. She is typical of the teens we are mentoring. She rarely participated in class. Often she said she was not smart enough to know how to do something. Over the course of the first semester, Sophia began to blossom as we provided encouragement and support. By the second semester, she began using the critical thinking and problem-solving skills we teach at BRIEF.

Sophia's confidence increased significantly. This was evident during a visit by the Clemson Capstone team. All of the teens provided short presentations on their mobile app innovations. When the Capstone team provided feedback, Sophia was thrilled to hear that they loved her mobile app innovation. She said it was the first time she had been told that she was smart. 

In the next BRIEF class, Sophia volunteered to be the team leader and spokesperson during one of our team competitions and she lead her team to victory. 

We look forward to seeing what God has in store for Sophia and our other BRIEF kids!

Meet the Directors of BRIEF's Lego Robotics program, Jerry and Sue Wayman. For over 20 years, Jerry and Sue have coached the Metal In Motion Team 343, a First Robotics high school competition team.

Their wealth of knowledge and experience has been an integral part of getting BRIEF’s robotics classes up and running.

Their son was a member of this competitive team. Seeing his success grow into a career working with robotics at Intel inspired Jerry and Sue to work with BRIEF. They know firsthand that learning through robotics can lead to a successful STEM career. Robots are just the hook to get kids excited about STEM fields.

BRIEF Robotics teaches Communication, Teamwork, Problem-Solving, and Critical Thinking - skills hiring managers value. The activities with robotics prepare them for job interviews, working on a team, and public speaking, In the words of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), "We use robots to build kids, not kids to build robots."

Thank you, Jerry and Sue, we are blessed to have you on the team!