MATH AND MAKING IN AFTERSCHOOL - A PEDAGOGIC INNOVATION WITH LATINX MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTH

Amped 4 Making (A4M) is an afterschool program co-developed by TERC and the Cesar Chavez Foundation (CCF) that integrates mathematics-oriented design and making with the community values of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.The program engaged Latinx middle school youth across the U.S. Southwest in community-focused maker projects, aiming to broaden participation in STEM through culturally responsive practices.A4M consists of four semester-long modules designed to support rural Latinx youth's mathematical identity and agency.Materials include student and facilitator resources in multiple media and accompanying training.Youth aged 10-14 engaged in co-designed, locally adaptable making projects that connected mathematics learning, community, and cultural strengths.A4M's design/making framework integrates the mindset of design thinking with hands-on making through an iterative cycle.This structure supported both youth and facilitators in recognizing and leveraging embedded mathematics.Through this approach, A4M provides a model for transforming how Latinx youth engage with informal math learning, and how they see themselves as mathematical thinkers-solving problems rooted in their communities through making.