CBU Tres Pasos Program Helps Inland Empire Students See Themselves in STEM

Fifty-six high school and incoming college students just presented their STEM projects at California Baptist University’s Familia Day, marking the culmination of the Tres Pasos Summer Bridge Program. More importantly, for many of these first-generation and Hispanic students from the Inland Empire, it was the moment they and their families could see a future in science and engineering for themselves. This shift, from abstract possibility to tangible path, is the real headline.

Building a Familia, Not Just a Pipeline

What makes the Tres Pasos program—Spanish for “Three Steps”—stand out is its foundation in community. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the free three-week initiative immerses students in college-level STEM coursework and research. But its core philosophy, as Program Coordinator Wendy Barbosa-Bulrice describes, is “Somos familia”—We are family. This isn’t a platitude; it’s a structural choice. With demand more than tripling from 36 students in its first year to over 110 applicants this year, the model centers on creating a support network. It acknowledges that for first-generation students, navigating college is a family journey. Familia Day intentionally brings parents and relatives into labs and lecture halls, demystifying a system that can feel opaque and distant, and transforming anxiety into a shared sense of belonging and possibility.

Engineering Purpose, Not Just Products

This human-centered approach extends into the curriculum itself. Students aren’t just learning formulas; they’re applying them to tangible problems. Professor Dr. Mario Oyanader notes the program is built around those “click moments”—when a student realizes, “Oh, I could do this,” while working on real-world applications like fluid dynamics or biomedical engineering. The goal isn’t to create a specific pipeline to CBU, but to foster a sense of vocation and opportunity. Some students do continue into what the university calls a familia cohort, receiving ongoing academic and peer support, but the first victory is internal: seeing oneself as someone who can contribute to the heartbeat of scientific progress.

Service as the Ultimate STEM Project

This idea of STEM as a human endeavor resonates hundreds of miles away in Oklahoma. There, middle school students from the Technology Student Association (TSA) at Oneta Ridge Middle School won two national championships not for grades, but for people. Their projects, like the Buzzy Bee Box—a sensory board designed for children at the Little Light House—stem from a mindset shift their teacher fostered: “We do them for people and for a purpose.” Students learned to see their technical skills as tools for empathy, creating occupational therapy tools for burn victims and interactive boards that foster fine motor skill development. As one student reflected, their view of community service evolved from “picking up trash” to asking, “What else can I do?” The national award was meaningful, but as student Alex Boontheekul shared, seeing the children use what they built was equally rewarding.

These stories, from California to Oklahoma, weave a common thread: the most durable STEM education is rooted in human connection. It’s about designing programs that recognize family as part of the support structure and reframing technical skill as a means to serve. For any educator, parent, or community looking to foster the next generation of innovators, the takeaway is clear. The programs that are growing fastest and resonating deepest are the ones building kinship alongside curriculum, proving that the future of science is inextricably linked to the strength of our communities. You can read more about the students' award-winning community-focused projects here.