by UCI researchers Maggie Dahn, Seth Corrigan, Mizuko Ito, and Kylie Peppler of the Connected Learning Lab at UC-Irvine in collaboration with Susan Gamble, Director of the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network, Tami Jo Wilt, Quality Program Coordinator, Jodi Smith and Lisa Ingram, West Virginia University Extension 4-H Agents
West Virginia faces a growing challenge: as STEM career opportunities expand across the state, the infrastructure to prepare and retain a locally trained workforce has struggled to keep pace. With a college-going rate of 47%—significantly below the national average of 63%—and just 21% of adults holding a bachelor’s degree compared to 32% nationally (West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, 2025), the state experiences a persistent “brain drain” as young people leave in search of better opportunities elsewhere.
At the same time, local industries increasingly depend on skilled workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This gap between opportunity and workforce readiness presents both a challenge and an urgent call to action: how can young people in West Virginia be supported to see themselves in the future of STEM – and to see that future unfolding in their own communities?
This case study explores how the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network (WVSAN), in partnership with West Virginia University Extension 4-H, responded to this challenge. By integrating a locally relevant STEM focus into an existing career readiness curriculum and aligning efforts across in-school and out-of-school settings, this initiative aimed to spark interest in STEM careers, build practical skills, and connect youth to real opportunities in their home state.
West Virginia faces a growing challenge: as STEM career opportunities expand across the state, the infrastructure to prepare and retain a locally trained workforce has struggled to keep pace. With a college-going rate of 47%—significantly below the national average of 63%—and just 21% of adults holding a bachelor’s degree compared to 32% nationally (West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, 2025), the state experiences a persistent “brain drain” as young people leave in search of better opportunities elsewhere.
At the same time, local industries increasingly depend on skilled workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This gap between opportunity and workforce readiness presents both a challenge and an urgent call to action: how can young people in West Virginia be supported to see themselves in the future of STEM – and to see that future unfolding in their own communities?
This case study explores how the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network (WVSAN), in partnership with West Virginia University Extension 4-H, responded to this challenge. By integrating a locally relevant STEM focus into an existing career readiness curriculum and aligning efforts across in-school and out-of-school settings, this initiative aimed to spark interest in STEM careers, build practical skills, and connect youth to real opportunities in their home state.
To address the growing workforce gap in STEM fields, the WVSAN leveraged its role as a statewide connector and convener. Housed within West Virginia University Extension, WVSAN’s mission is to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of afterschool and summer learning programs across the state. Director Susan Gamble describes their work as “raising awareness around the need and demand for youth to have high-quality learning in out-of-school time spaces.”
WVSAN partnered with West Virginia University Extension 4-H, a trusted presence in local communities with a long history of delivering youth development programs in both school and out-of-school settings. Together, they saw an opportunity to deepen an existing partnership by focusing on a shared goal: connecting young people to locally relevant career pathways through STEM. This collaboration brought together complementary strengths:
Rather than building something entirely new, the partners chose to adapt an existing program – Seeing Yourself in the Future (SYIF) – and enhance it for afterschool programs with a “STEM Lens.” This strategy allowed them to extend the impact of a proven, widely-used career readiness curriculum while focusing new attention on high-demand STEM careers available within West Virginia. By intentionally bridging in-school instruction and afterschool experiences, the networked approach offered youth multiple, connected touchpoints to build self-awareness, explore interests, and imagine futures that include staying and thriving in their home communities.
Originally developed by WVU Extension to support youth career readiness, SYIF is a cohesive, eight-session program that helps young people explore careers, set goals, and develop soft skills through engaging, structured activities. According to WVU Extension (2025), the curriculum has already reached 370 educators across 37 states and 46 West Virginia counties, with three years of evaluation data demonstrating statistically significant gains in career exploration, interview skills, and self-efficacy.
As Jodi Smith, a 4-H Agent, explained, the curriculum was originally created in response to a statewide needs assessment that revealed a lack of support for youth in exploring career pathways. “We created the curriculum to help remedy and respond to this need,” she said.
Originally developed by WVU Extension to support youth career readiness, SYIF is a cohesive, eight-session program that helps young people explore careers, set goals, and develop soft skills through engaging, structured activities. According to WVU Extension (2025), the curriculum has already reached 370 educators across 37 states and 46 West Virginia counties, with three years of evaluation data demonstrating statistically significant gains in career exploration, interview skills, and self-efficacy.
As Jodi Smith, a 4-H Agent, explained, the curriculum was originally created in response to a statewide needs assessment that revealed a lack of support for youth in exploring career pathways. “We created the curriculum to help remedy and respond to this need,” she said. “We started in schools and then broadened it to out-of-school time. The goal is to increase student understanding of career exploration, goal setting, and the importance of soft/power skills.” Activities included mock interviews, resume writing, and reflection on social media and professionalism, all designed to give youth tools for navigating their futures in the workforce.
The new challenge, however, was to tailor this curriculum toward STEM career pathways – and to do so in a way that felt grounded in local realities. WVSAN and 4-H collaborated to develop an enhanced set of 8-10 STEM Lens lessons for afterschool implementation, while selectively embedding STEM concepts into school-day SYIF instruction. These new modules emphasized authentic learning experiences such as identifying personal interests, mapping them to STEM careers, and meeting professionals in fields like environmental science, agriculture, and advanced manufacturing. As Susan Gamble put it, “We knew we had this tremendous curriculum. This project gave us the funding, time, and wherewithal to make it happen – to really connect SYIF with STEM opportunities that are meaningful to kids in West Virginia.”
Crucially, the partners prioritized local relevance. Lisa Ingram, another 4-H Agent, emphasized the importance of tailoring the content to West Virginia’s economic landscape: “We are very conscious about breaking out opportunities – whether that be military, apprenticeship, 2-year, 4-year, or doctorate levels – to make sure they understand what education and work is needed for various careers.” Tami Jo Wilt, WVSAN’s Quality Program Coordinator, added, “When integrating the local STEM career collaborations into the SYIF STEM Lens, we considered local partners and how best to connect youth with professionals for an authentic learning experience.”
“We started in schools and then broadened it to out-of-school time. The goal is to increase student understanding of career exploration, goal setting, and the importance of soft/power skills.” Activities included mock interviews, resume writing, and reflection on social media and professionalism, all designed to give youth tools for navigating their futures in the workforce.
The new challenge, however, was to tailor this curriculum toward STEM career pathways – and to do so in a way that felt grounded in local realities. WVSAN and 4-H collaborated to develop an enhanced set of 8-10 STEM Lens lessons for afterschool implementation, while selectively embedding STEM concepts into school-day SYIF instruction. These new modules emphasized authentic learning experiences such as identifying personal interests, mapping them to STEM careers, and meeting professionals in fields like environmental science, agriculture, and advanced manufacturing. As Susan Gamble put it, “We knew we had this tremendous curriculum. This project gave us the funding, time, and wherewithal to make it happen – to really connect SYIF with STEM opportunities that are meaningful to kids in West Virginia.”
Crucially, the partners prioritized local relevance. Lisa Ingram, another 4-H Agent, emphasized the importance of tailoring the content to West Virginia’s economic landscape: “We are very conscious about breaking out opportunities – whether that be military, apprenticeship, 2-year, 4-year, or doctorate levels – to make sure they understand what education and work is needed for various careers.” Tami Jo Wilt, WVSAN’s Quality Program Coordinator, added, “When integrating the local STEM career collaborations into the SYIF STEM Lens, we considered local partners and how best to connect youth with professionals for an authentic learning experience.”
This effort to match youth aspirations with local realities extended beyond the classroom. For example, students used the state-supported College Foundation of West Virginia website (https://www.cfwv.com/) to explore career pathways and postsecondary options available specifically in their regions. The goal, as Jodi noted, was to “help them connect with their interests and real-world opportunities… just having them know where to find the resources and get the information that they need to make decisions, and then expanding those networks with connected professionals and community partners.”
As Tami Jo observed, the STEM Lens not only helped students connect STEM to their futures – but also shifted perceptions among adults through discovering professions that are not traditionally thought of as STEM careers that have connections to STEM learning: “We’re able to create those greater connections and help students make decisions and plan for their future in a way that is meaningful for them.”
With a shared curriculum in place, the WVSAN and WVU Extension 4-H team focused on building a coordinated strategy to deliver the SYIF + STEM Lens model across both in-school and out-of-school settings. Their implementation plan emphasized relationship-driven coordination, local adaptability, and ongoing professional development – keys to ensuring fidelity and flexibility across five counties: Wood, Greenbrier, Marshall, Pleasants, and Gilmer.
These counties were selected in consultation with the West Virginia Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) based on their existing afterschool infrastructure and demonstrated interest in career readiness programming. Jodi Smith noted that having pre-existing relationships with local Boys & Girls Clubs and other youth-serving organizations made it possible to move quickly:
As Tami Jo observed, the STEM Lens not only helped students connect STEM to their futures – but also shifted perceptions among adults through discovering professions that are not traditionally thought of as STEM careers that have connections to STEM learning: “We’re able to create those greater connections and help students make decisions and plan for their future in a way that is meaningful for them.”
Having pre-established programs that are cost minimal and provide transportation for the kids is not typical for all of West Virginia… Having mutual trust and successful programs there before made it easier to bridge those connections.
— Jodi Smith, 4-H Agent
These counties were selected in consultation with the West Virginia Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) based on their existing afterschool infrastructure and demonstrated interest in career readiness programming. Jodi Smith noted that having pre-existing relationships with local Boys & Girls Clubs and other youth-serving organizations made it possible to move quickly:
As Tami Jo observed, the STEM Lens not only helped students connect STEM to their futures – but also shifted perceptions among adults through discovering professions that are not traditionally thought of as STEM careers that have connections to STEM learning: “We’re able to create those greater connections and help students make decisions and plan for their future in a way that is meaningful for them.”
Having pre-established programs that are cost minimal and provide transportation for the kids is not typical for all of West Virginia… Having mutual trust and successful programs there before made it easier to bridge those connections.
— Jodi Smith, 4-H Agent
The project prioritized alignment across learning environments. During the school day, middle school teachers, 4-H, and WVSAN co-delivered the original SYIF lessons with integrated elements from the STEM Lens curriculum. In afterschool settings, WVSAN, 4-H and afterschool educators extended learning through hands-on, project-based STEM activities linked to the same career themes. All parties used shared planning documents and met monthly to ensure consistency and adaptability. “This was the perfect opportunity to deepen our coordination with 4-H,” Susan Gamble explained. “This partnership gave us structure, funding, and time to really build something cohesive together.”
To build capacity, the team trained 21 afterschool educators and 10 middle school teachers to support program delivery. Professional development included both content-specific training and strategies for co-teaching and engagement. Tami Jo Wilt described the professional development approach as “scaffolded,” with access to virtual STEM experts and built-in flexibility to address educators’ varying experience with STEM content.
Financial support for the project came through braided funding strategies that supported curriculum development and revision, training, staffing, and materials. Funds were also used to cover travel for site visits and conference presentations, enabling continuous learning and reflection throughout the project cycle. The result was a locally-rooted, highly collaborative model that brought together educators, youth, and community partners in a shared effort to connect young people to the future of STEM in West Virginia.
Below, see an overview of the implementation timeline for the project with key milestones:
Implementing a statewide, cross-sector initiative across diverse rural contexts required creative problem-solving and strong collaboration. The WVSAN and 4-H teams encountered a range of logistical, structural, and capacity-related challenges. Below are several key barriers they faced—and the solutions they co-developed to maintain momentum and program fidelity:
| Challenges | Solutions |
|---|---|
Limited availability of afterschool programs in middle schools | Leveraged existing 4-H infrastructure and partnerships with 21st Century Community Learning Centers to identify sites with established programming, trusted relationships, and readiness to deliver the curriculum. |
Severe weather delays (flooding, snow, ice) interrupted launch | Adapted the implementation timeline by offering asynchronous training, flexible delivery windows, and virtual support to accommodate environmental interruptions. |
Educator discomfort or limited experience with STEM content | Provided scaffolded professional development, co-teaching models, and access to virtual STEM experts to support both school-day and afterschool educators. |
Misalignment between in-school and out-of-school curriculum delivery | Facilitated partner check-ins to ensure coordinated pacing, content alignment, and student engagement strategies. |
Under-identified STEM career pathways within communities | Some STEM careers in the region were not immediately recognized as such, so region-specific activities and curated resources were developed, including the CFWV.com career exploration site, to ensure students could identify and explore STEM careers available in their own communities. |
These solutions were not just tactical but relational – made possible through trusted partnerships, flexible infrastructure, and a shared commitment to keeping youth at the center of the work. As Jodi Smith reflected, “you have to work with what’s already there and be willing to adapt. But if the relationships are in place, you can do a lot – even in tough conditions.”
The pilot implementation of the SYIF + STEM Lens curriculum reached over 300 youth across five counties in both in-school and out-of-school settings. This multi-context approach provided students with multiple, connected entry points into STEM learning and career exploration.
The curriculum’s grounding in the original SYIF framework ensured that students developed core career readiness skills – such as resume writing, interview preparation, and goal setting – while the addition of the STEM Lens introduced a more explicit focus on connecting those skills to realistic and locally relevant STEM opportunities. Feedback from students, educators, and facilitators revealed several key outcomes:
These outcomes point to the value of embedding career development across both formal and informal learning settings, while highlighting the importance of aligning those efforts to local workforce realities. Early qualitative data suggests that students are not only more aware of STEM opportunities in their home state—they’re more interested in pursuing them.
As the SYIF + STEM Lens pilot concludes, WVSAN and 4-H are actively pursuing opportunities to scale and sustain the work. Their goal is to establish a statewide system for career exploration that is grounded in youth-centered, locally relevant, and cross-sector strategies.
One immediate next step is to expand the implementation to additional counties, prioritizing sites with strong afterschool-school partnerships and interest from educators. To support broader adoption, the team is refining the curriculum and training model based on pilot feedback, with plans to develop asynchronous training modules and on-demand coaching for new facilitators.
Another key focus is systems alignment. WVSAN is exploring how the SYIF + STEM Lens work can support state-level career readiness initiatives, including West Virginia’s Individualized Student Transition Plan (ISTP) and partnerships with the Department of Education and Workforce. “We’re starting to see the STEM Lens as more than just an add-on,” said Jodi Smith. “It’s a way to help all youth-serving systems think differently about career pathways – especially in rural communities.”
The team is also focused on policy and sustainability. Support – from 21st CCLC, and STEM Next’s Opportunity Fund – has enabled early innovation, but long-term success will require embedding this work in institutional strategies and budgets. WVSAN is engaging in strategic conversations with state leaders, funders, and national networks to share lessons learned and advocate for policies that support blended delivery models and locally-driven STEM engagement.
Finally, youth voice and family engagement remain central to future plans. Building on insights from the pilot, the team is working on expanding family-facing materials and co-designing new tools with young people, including digital storytelling projects that allow students to reflect on and share their career journeys. “We want this to be more than a program,” said Tami Jo Wilt. “We want to shift how communities see STEM – and how youth see their future in it.”
West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (2025). College going rates of WV public high school graduates at a glance.
https://www.wvhepc.edu/resources/data-and-publication-center/cgr/
WVU Extension (2025). WVU Extension: Career Readiness.
https://extension.wvu.edu/youth-family/career-readiness
STEM Next and the Connected Learning Lab at UCI have partnered to support state and regional out of school networks as they develop and strengthen an ecological and connected approach to STEM learning. The case studies series represent real world examples that are part of a larger effort to develop and improve connection strategies that strengthen STEM learning ecosystems, centering the experiences, mobility, and futures of individual learners and their families across state and regional networks.
For more information on the project and the strategies, visit https://stemnext.org/stem-pathways and connectedlearning.uci.edu/projects/making-connections/
