Reflections on FY2020: An Update From Our CEO
For the past 18 years, our work at Learning Undefeated has centered around serving students and teachers in communities that lack access to critical educational resources and opportunities readily available elsewhere. Reaching these communities has allowed us to spark student interest and create awareness of lucrative STEM careers, ultimately building the pipeline for tomorrow’s workforce with talented and diverse youth.
On March 11, 2020, our team made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend classes on- board our mobile STEM labs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon after, many schools made similar hard decisions to close. Our team quickly jumped into action, creating at-home science experiments that parents could do with their kids, anticipating that the shutdown would only be a temporary blip in the school year. When it became apparent that the disruption to our education system would be long-lasting, we understood the impact this would have on the communities we serve. While valuable to many, remote learning has a disproportionately negative impact on low-income and rural students who lack adequate internet access, technology, and support for sustained online learning.
Within a week, our team began a significant transformation, shifting our work to meet the new and demanding needs of students, teachers, and schools. The biggest challenge appeared immediately: providing meaningful experiences for those that need them most in a new world that suddenly lacked accessibility. This challenge continues to be the most important one we face and will continue to drive our mission and work moving forward.
