Announcing STEM Next’s Nature Prize Challenge Winners, youth-led projects from coast to coast

After weeks of thoughtful planning and youth-led creativity, the winners of STEM Next’s Community in Nature Prize Challenge are here.

In October, STEM Next challenged afterschool programs across the country to engage young people in designing meaningful projects that address issues or potential opportunities in nature in their communities. Dozens of programs from across the country responded with thoughtful, youth-led ideas rooted in real local needs, guided by educators who helped them make career connections along the way.

After careful deliberation from our panel of judges, we are excited to announce the winners of our inaugural Community in Nature Prize Challenge, whose submissions stood out for their creativity, youth engagement, impact, and incorporation of career-connected learning. 

Our first-place winners receiving a $3,500 grant for their afterschool program are:

• The Native Nook (California)
• Operation Share Aloha (Hawaii)*
• School’s Out! Afterschool Program (New Hampshire)
• Readington Middle School EcoAmbassadors (New Jersey)

Our second-place winners receiving $1,500 grants are:

• The Power of Water OST Club (California)
• Austin Grown – Sustainable Community Garden Initiative (Illinois)
• No Fear STEM Cafe (Michigan)*
• Bloom Upstate (South Carolina)*
• Braddock Elementary School: XStream Programs (Virginia)
• Urban Seeds Grow Pre-Apprenticeship Program (New Jersey)

Winning afterschool programs submitted completed projects or project plans that showcased young people’s creativity and commitment. Each initiative was designed by students themselves, with support and mentorship from their program leaders. While some programs have already begun their Nature Challenge projects, others are in the planning stages of bringing them to life. 

*Maryknoll School/Operation Share Aloha, No Fear STEM Cafe, and Bloom Upstate are a part of the Teen Science Cafe Network, an initiative of STEM Next that creates fun, interactive STEM events and hands-on experiences for teens to explore careers that interest them.

Highlights of the first-place winners’ projects

The Native Nook — California

The Native Nook program is transforming an underutilized school greenspace at Oakmont High School in Roseville, California into a shared community space. Young people are collaborating with the school’s Best Buddies program to use the garden to help adults with disabilities develop skills needed for independence. These buddy groups are arranging which native species to include in the garden to maximize pollinator activity, as well as how best to improve soil quality. The student designers have already begun speaking with their school’s food services to coordinate using food scraps for compost, and are designing rainwater harvesting systems to conserve water use. 

“Our goal is to save this garden and collaborate to improve the surrounding environment so that we have our own paradise at Oakmont,” said Lynnmarie Wang, an OST educator with the Native Nook. “By incorporating STEM Next’s Career-Connected Learning Framework, all students can be set up for success by working together, developing their critical thinking skills, and learning how to collaborate in the garden.”

Operation Share Aloha — Hawaii

At Maryknoll School in Hawaii, Operation Share Aloha used the Community in Nature Prize Challenge to expand its student-led sustainability work by hosting a sustainability fair that connected more than 500 young people to real-world environmental careers and projects.  The fair featured 23 exhibitors, including NOAA, the University of Hawaii, government officials, and nonprofit environmental organizations. 

Designed and led by youth, the fair offered hands-on activities that helped students understand how everyday choices impact local ecosystems, from reducing plastic waste to protecting native plants and wildlife. The event built on Operation Share Aloha’s existing sustainability campaign, which has already prevented 12,870 plastic forks from entering landfills through a shift to reusable alternatives. Prize funding will help the program strengthen and expand these efforts in the coming school year.

“Plans are already in the works to improve and facilitate these conservation programs again for this and next school year, with hopes to continue them in the future, always with the aim to reduce plastics and to practice a sustainable lifestyle and to help the local community keep our planet clean and safe for our people, plants, and animals – our ʻāina,’” said Maya Kimura, an 11th grade student leader of Operation Share Aloha.

School’s Out! Eco Detectives — New Hampshire

Through the School’s Out! Eco Detectives project, young people in Ossipee, New Hampshire, are using Constitution Park as a living classroom to investigate environmental challenges and design youth-led solutions. Young people with Eco Detectives will collect and interpret data to map erosion, track wildlife sightings, and document environmental conditions. Working with local conservation partners, students plan to turn their findings into action through projects such as youth-created “Leave No Trace” trail signage, QR-coded educational stops, a pollinator garden, and a community clean-up day. Together, these efforts will improve the health of the park while helping students build STEM skills and see how environmental careers connect to their own community.

Readington Middle School EcoAmbassadors — New Jersey

The Readington Middle School EcoAmbassadors in New Jersey are building a Tiny Forest Living Lab, transforming an unused playground into a garden where students can learn about the environment and support native wildlife. According to one EcoAmbassador, their goal is to “enhance wellness, not just for the students but for the whole community.” As part of their submission, the young EcoAmbassadors interviewed local environmental experts, including the education manager at the New Jersey Audubon Society and a researcher from Yale’s Natural Climate Solutions program. They plan to break ground on their Tiny Forest in spring 2026.

From ideas to action in afterschool STEM

STEM Next launched the Community in Nature Prize Challenge to introduce and scale career-connected STEM learning across afterschool programs, using nature as an accessible entry point for hands-on exploration and real-world problem-solving. In just a short time, these projects show how targeted investments can accelerate youth leadership and meaningful community impact.

We are grateful to all the programs that applied. Every participating young person engaged in STEM practices that build durable skills, from research and design to teamwork and critical thinking, while learning how environmental issues connect to career pathways. The challenge reinforces afterschool’s role as essential infrastructure for preparing young people to navigate and shape the world around them.

More Resources

Our Earth & Space Learning Center of Excellence is engaging youth in the critical questions and careers of Earth and space science through prize challenges like these and other upcoming initiatives. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on impact stories from this challenge and to learn about future opportunities. 

This Challenge was made possible with support from the Volgenau Foundation, whose partnership with STEM Next is inspiring a new generation that is scientifically proficient, environmentally responsible, and committed to making a positive impact on their communities. Together with our many partners, we’re building momentum for a future where every young person can make a difference in their community. Find out how to join us here.