During the summer of 2025 and throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, five Teacher Prep students participated and continue to participate in Noyce Internships at Upward Bound at Clark University and Worcester Technical High School. The Teacher Prep students bring their content knowledge and passion to teaching, supporting high school students as mentors, and fostering the next generation of STEM learners.
Through the Noyce Internship, WPI students design and deliver engaging and hands-on STEM learning opportunities. For instance, Cole Solomon taught engineering to grade 10 Upward Bound Scholars during the summer, which required developing curriculum, syllabus, and lesson plans. The curriculum was taught over the course of 11 days and was built up to a final project, in this case Rube Goldberg machine. Cole is continuing his internship during the academic year, providing tutoring and ongoing mentorship to the Upward Bound scholars.
Memorable moments by Cole Solomon, “My favorite memory was the academic spree day, where all the kids showed off their final presentations. My students greatly enjoyed their Rube Goldberg machine and were proudly explaining it to anyone that would listen. It was proud to have gotten the kids to a point where they could take some cardboard and duck tape and turn it into something amazing. The program was an amazing experience for me and I will likely base a lot of what I know as a teacher on what I learned during it.”
Martin Kalo also did his summer Noyce Internship at Upward Bound. He worked with 10th and 12th grade scholars, assisting in the Neurobiology and Statistics classes where he supported students with their projects. Martin also played music with scholars, allowing him to build strong relationships.
Memorable moments by Martin Kalo, “One of my favorite experiences was honestly getting shouted out during Academic Spree Day when the scholars were giving thanks to all the staff members. It meant a lot to me that even in the short time I had at UB, I was able to make a big enough change for some of the students to identify me in particular as someone who had impacted them.”
During the academic year, Cole Solomon, Ryan Shi, Elijah Chaimovitch, and Corey Charron tutor and mentor at either Upward Bound or Worcester Tech HS where they are building strong relationships with students and watching students thrive throughout the program.
(L) Cole Solomon, (M) Ryan Shi, & (R) Elijah Chaimovitch tutoring and mentoring high school students at Upward Bound at Clark University
Teacher Prep students gain valuable, authentic experience by facilitating hands-on STEM activities in out-of-school programs at community-based organizations. Through these internships, they strengthen their teaching skills, deepen their understanding of student learning, and prepare them for their upcoming student- teaching practicum in local schools.
