History

WE ARE A GROUP PASSIONATE ABOUT LEARNING AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY.

In 2019, Rise Up: Northeast Ohio was born. We are a nonprofit that aims to transform science education in public high schools across Northeast Ohio. Our founders are serious scientists, innovators, inventors, and professionals that truly believe in making positive change in the lives of students in the community and reshaping the future of science.

If you were to walk into a research lab and ask people working about their backgrounds, one thing would really stick out: almost all scientists come from upper middle-class backgrounds. In fact, there have been many studies done that show that there is what is called a “glass floor” in science careers. This means that unless your parents make above a certain income, it is incredibly difficult to break through this glass floor and enter science careers. We believe this barrier to entry largely stems from structural inequality and inequities in science education.

Rise Up brings programming that matches the cutting edge science happening in professional laboratories to students and teaches them how to be a scientist from start to finish. We target schools composed of students that have been historically excluded and pair teachers with scientists. Our scientists visit with classes once per week and help students come up with independent research ideas to write grant proposals on before selecting projects to fund, bringing all the necessary supplies and equipment to classes, and guiding students through the experimentation as teams of collaborators. At the end of the hands-on projects, students present their work and publish results in a scientific journal made and distributed by Rise Up with an opportunity to be published in an international scientific journal. These students will do everything that a real scientist does. Beyond the deep learning experience that brings hands-on experiences, resources, and scientific equipment to classrooms, we also provide actual opportunities to students as Rise Up Scholars in the form a paid summer internship in Cleveland based research laboratories.

Our hope is that with Rise Up: Northeast Ohio, this program can give students the upper hand and provide them with the additional knowledge and tools that could contribute to their success. Bringing students and scientists together builds bridges and breaks down barriers between two worlds to empower students with opportunity and help students appreciate that people who do science are just like them. Overall, it is our mission to provide access to scientists to inspire students, regardless of their career interests.