This new STEM lab is teaching at-risk youth about coding, AI and game design

When Raayla White first arrived at Level Up Philly earlier this past school year, she was just happy to find another safe place she could call home. The 14-year-old from West Philly nicknamed “Teapot” loved being around the other kids who were also seeking refuge at the youth community organization and hangout space.

“It’s been a rough life for my whole family. Once you find a safe place, you’ll be, like, ‘I’m gonna stick to this one,’” she said.

As White got more comfortable at Level Up, she visited the organization’s new science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and computer lab. The LIFE LAB (Locate, Identify, Fortify, Exemplify & Leaps, and, Bounds) is home to 26 computers, 3D printers, virtual and augmented reality headsets, gaming consoles and more, with about 150 different kids visiting the lab every day.

White started coming for the lab’s free time hours, then started taking some of the free tech courses taught in the lab by tech professionals. Now, she’s a paid lab manager, where she helps other students learn, too.

The lab has made her feel that this is where she was meant to be. Since she was about 8 years old, White has wanted to be a cardiovascular surgeon. And during a course taught by one of Level Up’s partners one day, White and other students got to learn all of the anatomy of the heart using AR headsets. They got to zoom in on its structures and see the vital organ up close.

“It [makes] your dreams come true. Maybe I can do it. ... Maybe I will do it,” she said.

Pastor Aaron Campbell, the founder and executive director of Level Up, has planned a STEM lab for his organization for several years. To this point, the focus at Level Up has been providing a safe place for Philly youth to hang out with each other, eat free meals, do their homework and receive tutoring, and connect them with other resources they may need.

It has worked — Campbell said that about 1,000 to 1,200 kids visit Level Up in West Philly over a typical week during the school year, coming from 140 different schools inside and outside of Philadelphia. Despite coming from different neighborhoods and even sometimes rival gangs, there’s unity and peace for them at Level Up, often through dance.

» READ MORE: ‘This is home. This is their sanity. This is their happy place.’ — A Q&A with Pastor Aaron Campbell

But Campbell believes STEM education is how Level Up can continue to impact the future of the city and open opportunities for its most marginalized kids.

“If we want to talk mental health, if we want to talk anti-violence and gun violence, you have to address poverty in the city of Philadelphia,” he said, pointing out that nearly 30% of Philadelphia children live below the poverty line.

“If we’re telling them to put the gun down and walk away from the gun culture, we have to give them another option. And STEM is that sure tool to give them, because [it] is the wave of the future.”

At the end of 2023, Level Up was awarded a $650,000 grant from the city’s Community Expansion Grant program to build and fund the lab through the end of 2024. Campbell partnered with DVNC Tech to lead the design and construction of the lab, which opened to kids in April.

Now, the lab is open four days a week, year round. From Monday to Wednesday, there are free-time hours until 5 p.m., where kids can come use the computers for gaming, watching YouTube, or anything else they’re interested in. From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Level Up offers its digital navigation, AI, drone piloting, and other classes. And on Saturdays, the lab is open for kids who want to dive deeper into their learning, where they can take more intensive classes on subjects like coding and game development.

Currently, the intensive group is studying sneaker design. Each of the students in the course learned how to use AI and design programs to create an Air Force 1 or New Balance shoe. Level Up then ordered each of the kids real sneakers, which they will soon paint by hand using stencils made by their 3D printers to match their design.

“We want them to be able to look around, see it, and be immersed in the learning,” said Vince Quarles, founder of DVNC Tech and a program manager at the Level Up lab, who co-teaches many of the courses.

Chris Ellis-Owens, 15, already had advanced computer knowledge when he started coming to the lab. He would “mod” games he played on his laptop to make them more fun or interesting than the stock games. He’s a lab manager, the first paid job he’s had outside of some yard work. And while he’s enjoying the courses at Level Up, he’s enjoying teaching other students, too.

“It feels really fun, especially when I’m crushing others in the video games,” he said.

Level Up has also partnered with the nonprofit Exponential Destiny, which trained kids in virtual reality navigation and how to create in the Metaverse, as well as Optima Academy, a VR online school that took Level Up kids on a tour of the Oval Office and guided them through the heart’s anatomy.

Campbell said that his goal is to equip students with a robust STEM education, the lab is also meant to meet students where they’re at. Some of his students go to magnet schools, while others struggle with basic reading.

“A lot of kids, they don’t even know how to turn a computer on. They don’t even know what right click is,” he said. “We’ve created ... an intensive room, but it’s a very fun room. It’s a safe space to learn at whatever level you walk in.”

The early successes of the lab are built on the relationships between Campbell, the instructors, and the kids. The adults ask for kids to be open and attentive in exchange for nonjudgmental learning, freedom, and trust.

“We don’t have anything tied down or wired down or locked. We teach these kids — this is yours. this is for you, and no one’s stealing anything. No one’s taking anything away. They’re treating everything with the utmost care,” he said.

“It’s amazing,” said Caesar Rodriguez, 15, a regular gamer at the lab. “He spends all this money and he can just trust us. Because people, they have respect for him ... and they respect not to break anything.”

Campbell tells his kids often about how much the future of Level Up and its ability to offer a lab like this is dependent on them. Future funding relies on them treating each other and the space with care. But it’s not a warning when he says it. It’s a show of his belief and confidence in their ability to rise above their circumstances and realize their potential.

“The kids just need a shot,” he said. “They just need a shot.”