Increasing STEM Engagement in Minority Middle School Boys through Making

African-American and Hispanic males are significantly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. While youth start narrowing their career choices in middle school, integrated STEM programs rarely specifically target minority males. Roadblocks that continue to challenge minority males in their pursuit of success in STEM fields include: disparity in access to high quality STEM educational resources, a lack of role models; and a shortage of highly trained, minority STEM educators. To address this need, four Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) in different states, in partnership with The Verizon Foundation, established the Minority Male Maker Program in the spring of 2015. This program empowers underserved middle school students in urban and rural communities and their teachers by providing resources, instruction and professional development in 3D modeling, App development, and computer science. The long term goals of this project are to increase participant interest in STEM careers and college attendance. In the short term, we anticipate increased technology proficiency, STEM engagement and academic achievement. Additional outcomes include increased teacher and mentor understanding of STEM instruction delivery and mentorship. This presentation will provide evaluation results and lessons learned during the first year of this project, including the effects of strategies, such as mentorship and early exposure to university-based STEM resources. Recommendations for developing a prototypical process for developing programs that broaden participation of underrepresented students will also be discussed.