From left, Ricky Davini, Brooks Harrell and Alisa Washington. Submitted photo

This summer, Ricky Davini, Brooks Harrell and Alisa Washington from Kinston will join outstanding elementary school students from across the state to take part in a unique academic and career-oriented development experience, the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF): Pathways to STEM, taking place in Winston-Salem.

NYLF Pathways to STEM is one of the Envision family of programs (www.envisionexperience.com) that enable students to explore their interests and experience learning beyond the classroom.

The trio was nominated by their third grade teacher at Contentnea-Savannah School. The friends are excited to go on this adventure together. They are looking forward to the many activities they will be doing at the event.

These activities include building an MBot robot, blood drop analysis, pulling fingerprints and solving a crime, a beef heart dissection, diagnosing snakebites and much more.

“As an alumna of Envision myself, I am excited for Ricky, Brooks, and Alisa to meet, work, and collaborate with fellow high-aspiring students from other cities and schools,” said Amanda Freitag Thomas, senior vice president for Envision. “Hands down, my favorite part of attending an Envision program was being with motivated students in an environment designed to help us challenge our assumptions, meet new people, and grow. Creating that same learning environment is a central focus for all of our programs.

“At NYLF Pathways to STEM, students build the confidence and skills needed to excel in the classroom while gaining exposure to STEM fields and concepts. They learn how to adapt to and communicate in new situations, to new challenges, and with new people, which, given how rapidly the world is changing due to technology and innovation, are essential skills for success.”

Since 1985, Envision programs have served more than 800,000 students in more than 145 countries, with programs designed to help students develop the leadership, scholarship and career skills needed to succeed in today’s competitive college and career landscape.