Eureka Enrichment Services
IGNITING GREAT MOMENTS OF DISCOVERY
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Due to their high cost, STEM programs in Puerto Rico are mostly found in affluent communities and schools; however, according to the US Census, 43% of Puerto Ricans live below the poverty line and over 75% of students go to public schools. Due to budgetary constraints, almost 300 public schools have closed in recent years and funds to promote STEM are almost non-existent. In 2017, Puerto Rico public schools ranked last in fourth-grade and eighth-grade math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests. As of 2018, the local Department of Education reported that only 36% of students between 3rd and 8th grade perform at a basic level in Math, and under 50% in Science. All of these statistics highlight the dire need for transformative and effective STEM programs like FIRST® to be made available in public schools. Furthermore, the majority of resources from US-based STEM programs are in English, while the predominant language in public schools is Spanish.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
FIRST LEGO League Jr.
A worldwide, non-competitive program that introduces STEM and robotics concepts to 5 - 9 year-old students. Students must research and learn about a subject related to that season’s selected topic, create a LEGO model with at least 1 programmed element related to the subject and present what they learned to adult observers at an official FLL JR EXPO.
Budgetary constraints often limit Puerto Rico public school participation. Our mission is to expand public school participation through grants and reach our goal to have a team in every municipality. Join us to help us reach our goal!!!
Our future is built better together!
FIRST LEGO League
FIRST® LEGO® League is the most accessible, guided, global robotics competition, helping students and teachers to build a better future together. The program is built around theme-based Challenges to engage children ages 9 to 14 in research, problem solving, coding, and engineering. Students emerge more confident, excited, and equipped with the skills they need in a changing workforce.
When students are engaged in hands-on STEM experiences they succeed. When adults coach students, they encourage them to try, fail, and try again, while connecting STEM concepts to real-world examples.
Our goals for this program is to increase public school and female participation (currently at 18% and 35% respectively) in this transformative program by breaking the economic/budgetary constraints that many public schools and low-income communities face by offering targeted grants. Join us to help us reach our goal of at least one FLL team in every town!!!
Our future is built better together!
FIRST Tech Challenge
FIRST Tech Challenge is a transformative robotic program that challenges teams (up to 15 team members, grades 7-12) to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format.
Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team.
The robot kit is reusable from year to year and can be coded using a variety of levels of Java-based programming. Teams design and build robots, raise funds, design and market their team brand, and do community outreach to earn specific awards. Participants are eligible to apply for $80M+ in college scholarships.
Scripps National Spelling Bee, Puerto Rico Chapter
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a beloved academic competition of nearly 100 years. Founded in 1925 it has been an iconic event in Puerto Rico for more than 50 years. Schools are invited to register and run their internal Spelling Bees in order to produce 3 winners who progress from classroom to school to regional to final competitions as millions of other students have done before them.
The purpose of the Spelling Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, develop correct English usage and develop skills to perform under pressure that will help them all their lives.
Our goal, as the official, organizing partner of National Spelling Bee in Puerto Rico is to increase the number of public and private school students who are able to participate. Currently there are no public schools registered in Puerto Rico and it is our aim to raise funds in order to support public school registrations.
ZERO ROBOTICS Middle School Summer Program with MIT & NASA
The Zero Robotics Middle School Summer Program is an innovative and inspiring program for middle school students, which seeks to inspire our next generation of great minds by allowing them unprecedented access to space at the middle school level. The five-week STEM curriculum introduces students to computer programming, robotics, and space engineering, and provides hands-on experience programming SPHERES satellites.
The program culminates in a tournament where winning teams’ SPHERES compete aboard the International Space Station (ISS). By making the benefits and resources of the International Space Station tangible to students, Zero Robotics hopes to cultivate an appreciation of science, technology, engineering and math through healthy, immersive, collaborative competition.
While the program is in the process of restructuring we have been able to offer it for FREE to students in Puerto Rico thanks to sponsors who supported the costs to run it.
CHICAS STEM
Eureka Enrichment & Learning Services, Inc is committed to inspiring girls to discovering the many exciting career paths in STEM fields. Our staff creates a nurturing environment where learning happens through fun. The CHICAS STEM classes are diverse and respond to the interests and abilities of our students. Our staff spends a significant part of the year researching best practices, programs, and curriculum in STEM education and then we recruit rising stars at top STEM universities to run or support each summer session and/or Saturday workshops.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
FIRST LEGO LEAGUE 2013
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children, Adolescents, Preteens
Related Program
FIRST LEGO League
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected our participation numbers in FIRST LEGO League due to school closures and the difficulty of participating in our program remotely.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Children, Preteens
Related Program
FIRST LEGO League
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Even during the pandemic year, we were able to engage volunteers to participate in our events and try to expand our reach.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Eureka Enrichment Services, Inc. aims to provide equal and affordable access to high quality educational experiences to all students throughout all of Puerto Rico. Our long-term goal is to bring the FIRST® program to schools in all 78 municipalities of our island. For the 2019-20 season, we had teams in only 16 municipalities. Our 5 year plan is to hit our landmark goal of 100 teams island-wide and become a “household’ name in STEM education in Puerto Rico. We hope to elevate the FIRST® program in Puerto Rico to be a successful model for STEM engagement and to open our island to host a FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge International Open as well as a FIRST GLOBAL Challenge, an international Olympic style robotics competition. As part of this growth of FIRST® in Puerto Rico, we are concentrating on:
1. Team growth in public schools - Over the past 5 seasons, we have been able to increase the share of public school teams in FIRST® LEGO® League from 7 to 30%, but we need further support to increase our grant funds to help overcome the financial constraints that serve as the primary obstacle to further public school participation. With the help of these grant funds, we can not only help cover most of the participation and material costs of public school teams, but also equip teachers with the tools they need to successfully implement FIRST® programs in their school as well as other STEM programs we identify as being transformative.
2. Achieving parity between male and female participants - Over the past 7 seasons, we have increased female participation in FIRST® LEGO® League from 12% to 37%, but we still have ways to go. In order to increase female participation, we have been promoting all-girls teams in collaboration with the Girl Scouts and promoting 50/50 participation in other teams. As a result, during the 2019-20 season, the number of male-only teams decreased to under 12% indicating that our work in promoting female participation is successful. Additionally we grew from 0% girls only teams in 2018-2019 to 7% in the 2019-2020 season!
On an individual focus, Eureka’s proposed project goals include:
• Developing technological literacy in k-12;
• Increasing students' interest in having STEM careers or pursuing STEM pathways in higher education;
• Encouraging greater school engagement, educational aspiration, and retention amongst students;
• Enabling communities to overcome financial barriers to participation;
• Providing teacher training for improved online experiences;
• Ensuring growth in STEM readiness, knowledge, self-efficacy, and application both individually and as a team; and
• Improving transferable soft skills such as: creativity, critical thinking, innovation, problem solving, communication, and collaboration for all participating students.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Eureka Enrichment Services, Inc. has implemented various strategies to meet our long-term goals, such as:
1. Provide inclusion grants to teams from Title 1 public schools or low-income areas. We have established a transparent and fair grant review and acceptance process to evaluate grant requests from teams that seeks to establish sustainable programs in Title 1 public school and other organizations that serve low-income areas. The focus of our grant program is not only to fund a team for 1 year, but rather to help new teams create a financial plan that will allow it to become self-sustaining within the next 3 years through fundraising and team sponsorship strategies.
2. Provide digital resources and curriculum in Spanish to support the success of a remote or in-person robotics program. Eureka has identified language barriers as one of the significant obstacles for public school and low-income area teams who struggle with mastery of English. Since most of the materials, content and curriculum provided from FIRST® is in English, Eureka has undertaken efforts to translate content and create a new online curriculum in Spanish that teams can access in person or virtually.
3. Ensure success and sustainability for new/returning teams and coaches through coach training. Eureka has always recognized the importance of new coach training for the success of FIRST® programs in schools. Last year, we expanded our training program from a 1 day, 8 hour training to a 3 day, 21 hour training. The increase in hours allows us to cover materials in a more in-depth manner and provide more opportunities for coaches to practice and apply their newly gained knowledge.
4. Provide season-long team support for new/returning teams through the STEM Squad Support program. Even with thorough coach training, first year coaches continue to require support throughout the season. Eureka generous holds Mock Tournament to support new teams and help them prepare for real tournaments. We need to expand support services to regions that are remote and are often neglected. Eureka has established season-long STEM Squad Support program in order to virtually support teams with all aspects of the season, including robot design, construction and programming and project research and development. Our VISTA volunteers hold professional development and prepare material and communications with resources specific to the success of a Puerto Rican team.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
As the official program delivery partner of FIRST® programs in Puerto Rico, Eureka Enrichment Services, Inc. is uniquely positioned to meet our goals and become a formidable agent for change in Puerto Rico. Eureka counts with a skilled and dedicated staff of volunteers, coaches, mentors and sponsors that have already been successful in growing the FIRST® programs throughout the island over the past 7 seasons, established a successful coach training and team support program, developed an interactive online curriculum for teams in Spanish, and established a team grant request, review and approval process based on the generosity of our sponsors for new and returning teams from Title 1 public schools and low-income areas. Eureka is confident that we can reach all our immediate and long-term goals with the support of our growing group of sponsors and donors who recognize that investing in our children and future workforce is the best investment in our shared future.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2013, Eureka has brought or preserved respected academic and enrichment programs. Among these are the National Spelling Bee, FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge, Zero Robotics and Camp Eureka STEM. We have impacted more than 300 schools through our various programs and have had a reach and impact on more than 25,000 students on our island. We are 100% volunteer run and have harness the energy and volunteer power of major corporations, parents, teachers, and community members. The FIRST® program is in 26 municipalities while the National Spelling Bee has been in almost every municipality over the course of the history of the Bee in Puerto Rico.
Our 3-year plan for FLL Challenge (4th - 9th grade) is to continue growing at over a 30% clip in order to achieve our immediate goal of over 100 teams across the island, while continuing to expand public school and female participation across the board. We also seek to expand the FLL Explore program (2-4th grade) from the current number of 12 to over 50 teams and introduce the new FLL Discover program (Pre-Kinder-1st grade) program to over 25 schools within the next 3 years. Finally, we hope to roll out the FIRST® Tech Challenge program (7th - 12th grade) for the 2021-2 inaugural season with at least 12 teams across Puerto Rico. In addition, we aim to make summer learning opportunities more relevant and accessible in the most remote parts of Puerto Rico. We also plan to hope to restore the National Spelling Bee to its glory days of being a household name in every school in Puerto Rico.
Ultimately, we believe in learning and in children. We think they deserve the best opportunities that inspire them to explore and develop known or hidden talents and of course we hold strongly in our believe that ALL kids deserve to be celebrated in a Big, Grand, and FUN way. It is our mark, our legacy and one that we are proud of.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Eureka Enrichment Services
Board of directorsas of 09/04/2023
ROBERTO GORBEA
RG CONSULTING
Term: 2017 -
ROSLYN FAMOUS
LINGOVOX
WANDA IRIZARRY
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/04/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.