THE TECH INTERACTIVE HONORED WITH ASTC LEADING EDGE AWARD FOR SCALING DESIGN CHALLENGE LEARNING IN KENYA

Program Has Trained Nearly 20,000 Teachers and Reached More Than 568,000 Students in Three Years

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tech Interactive, Silicon Valley's premiere science and technology center, is a proud recipient of the 2025 Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Award from the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) for its Design Challenge Learning (DCL) Teacher Trainer Program in Kenya. The award recognizes The Tech's success in rapidly scaling access to hands-on, design-based STEM education in partnership with educators and communities across Kenya.

The DCL Teacher Trainer Program was piloted in 2023 to support the country's adoption of the Competency Based Curriculum, which emphasizes experiential learning over memorization. In 2024, the program expanded through a train-the-trainer model, equipping more than 500 Trainers of Teachers (ToTs) in Nakuru and Kisumu counties. Since July 2024, those ToTs have trained 19,348 teachers, with the program projected to reach 20,000 teachers and impact more than 568,000 students in grades 4-9 by the end of this year.

The training equips educators with the skills to integrate real-world problem solving into their classrooms using The Tech's Design Challenge Learning framework, which was originally developed in San Jose. The course promotes collaborative, student-led discovery by demonstrating effective ways for teachers to take a guiding role, rather than providing answers. Flexible scheduling and delivery of the training, including in-person workshops, and online modules, ensured participation across rural, underserved, and special needs schools.

"Design Challenge Learning has been central to The Tech Interactive's work for decades, and it has transformed how students approach learning in Silicon Valley," said Katrina Stevens, President & CEO of The Tech Interactive. "To see it now empowering educators and inspiring students across Kenya is extraordinary. We are honored to receive this recognition from ASTC, and we look forward to continuing to expand access to hands-on STEM learning."

The Tech Challenge Kenya

Since 1986, The Tech Interactive's signature program, The Tech Challenge, has engaged thousands of students in Silicon Valley in solving real-world problems through engineering design. The program expanded internationally to Kenya in 2023 starting with 750 students, followed by 2,700 participants in 2024. In July 2025, more than 4,800 students from hundreds of schools participated in showcase events in Kisumu and Nakuru, marking the program's first expansion to two locations. This growth reflects the direct impact of the Design Challenge Learning Teacher Trainer Program, which equips educators to prepare students for participation.

This year, students in Kenya were tasked with designing devices using only recycled materials that could survive a three-meter drop and deliver a coin up a ramp. The challenge reflected a pressing local issue: delivering food and supplies to rural communities. Participants demonstrated ingenuity, persistence, and teamwork, with students from diverse backgrounds, including deaf learners and those from rural schools, bringing innovative solutions to the stage.

"The creativity and confidence these students display shows the power of this approach," said Shital Patel, Director of Kenya Expansion at The Tech Interactive. "By investing in teachers, we are building a system that will continue to inspire new generations of innovators."

As The Tech Interactive expands the program to additional counties in Kenya, its mission remains the same: to inspire the innovator in everyone, whether in Silicon Valley, the Silicon Savannah, or beyond.

The Tech Interactive is a world leader in the creation of scalable STEAM education resources to empower the next generation of problem-solvers locally, nationally and globally. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, it is a world-renowned science and technology center that serves as an incubator for STEAM education that can be scaled far beyond the museum's walls. Through hands-on activities, experimental labs, and design challenge experiences, The Tech encourages people to innovate with creativity, curiosity, and compassion. Its signature program, The Tech Challenge, now in its 39th year, has engaged tens of thousands of students and educators in real-world engineering design challenges. The Tech believes that everyone is born an innovator who can change the world for the better.

SOURCE The Tech Interactive