Sourdough Sam
Well-known member
- Mar 20, 2019
- 1,637
- 0
In May of 2020, the 49ers celebrated a major milestone in the community – the first graduating class from the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute (SLI). SLI was started in 2014 and last year's senior class was the first group of students to complete the full six-year program.
The 49ers SLI students are some of the most creative young minds in the country who not only have a love for STEM education but also for giving back to their community. Nithila Poongovan, a SLI senior at Santa Clara High School has gone above and beyond for the entire special needs community both here in the Bay Area and across the country.
Poongovan, like most of her SLI classmates has a passion for STEM education that transcends the classroom. In her spare time, Poongovan and her friend Meghana Repaka began volunteering at the Santa Clara Therapeutic Recreation Services teaching Robotics and other STEM skills to special needs students.
Poongovan saw how excited these students were and wanted to know more about what STEM skill sessions were offered. Poongovan found out that this was the first time they had ever had a robotics team come in and teach STEM. This sparked an idea and a nonprofit that was beyond anything Poongovan and Repaka could have imagined.