BY: URSULA ROSCIGNO
The presence of the COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt left many businesses at a standstill leaving them wondering how to carry on business “as usual”, how to continue to provide for their audience, and how to survive Despite these situations, the lack of normalcy created by the current situation has also created the opportunity to innovate. From this, arises the realization that our world is changing and rather than to return to our normal way of life we must adapt. This is exactly what Lauren Baugh aimed to do through the founding of the STEAM Engine Academy.
Lauren Baugh was born and raised in Vallejo, California where she was inspired to become a teacher by the various experiences of education in her youth. Lauren went to a pre school where she felt she wasn’t heard and was judged based on what she looked like which motivated her to become a teacher that advocates for her students; one that hears them and listens to their side. Her teaching style is highly impacted by that of Ms. Shelly Fegoni, one of her grade school teachers who taught her the magic formula of high discipline mixed with high love. Lauren particularly gains inspiration from how Fegoni remained at a level playing field with all of her students and always treated them as equals as well as how she always pushed them to be their best without being punitive. Many years later, Ms. Fegoni’s magic formula is currently applied by Lauren herself who now has over 13 years of teaching under her belt including experience in child care and autism specialisation.
Lauren founded the STEAM Engine Academy during (and because of) the COVID-19 pandemic. The abrupt cancellation of her in person classes inspired her to start a youtube page wherein she made two to three teaching videos a day for her kids. This initial style of virtual teaching led her teaching classes via zoom using only her smartphone and a tripod and eventually Lauren pursued these educational methods individually without the help of the school she originally taught at. What began as this small adaptation made to teach students online has now involved into what the STEAM Engine Academy is today: an organization that provides about 10-11 hours of teaching a day to kids of all ages as well as all locations. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math, but in no way is the Academy limited to only that. Not only has Lauren provided a resource that creates educational opportunities in our new virtual-centric world, but she also does so in a way that allows kids to end up being ahead of where they’re supposed to be. Lauren loves working with the large age range of kids because she believes they can all access the same information and it pushes them to continue learning at a higher standard.Lauren’s current incredible team of seven consists of teachers of different levels of certification and experience ranging from bachelor’s to masters. She places a strong emphasis in only hiring teachers credentialed beyond her in order to create a learning environment for herself as well as her kids.
As someone who is extremely passionateabout what she does, it is no surprise that Lauren’s main focus in her educational style is making sure her students pursue what they love doing. She strongly believes in helping kids be autonomous rather than independent. That is, she places a high importance on working with kids to give them the ability to navigate, focus and emotionally regulate with minimal assistance rather than expect them to be self sufficient. She believes that this skillset is key in today’s day and age that is highly techno-centric and distanced. Though Lauren misses the closeness of the classroom as she describes herself to be quite an affectionate teacher, she did mention that distance learning has in a way simplified her teaching methods. She is a strong believer in the fact that overthinking teaching methods online makes it too complicated and adding too many crazy elements is just unnecessary. Additionally she specified that she is still able to form connections through the virtual format, they’re just slightly different. Though she wishes these connections could be better manifested in person, she is grateful that the connections are still very much there. Lauren’s “endgame” goal for the STEAM Engine Academy is to create affordable education for students all across the world in a hybrid campus.
Additionally, she’d like to create a summer camp where all the students and staff of the STEAM Engine Academy can meet once a year. She hopes to one day stand on the front steps of the office at the summer camp and watch all the students and teachers, who were once virtual, participate in a positive and fun learning environment where everyone is making connections and being happy.
Lauren is very excited to partner with Playbook Series Inc through the STEAM Engine Academy because she is delighted to be working with another founder that mirrors her enthusiasm and passion. Lauren Baugh and Playbook Series Inc CEO Stephisha Ycoy-Walton have been friends since childhood, and Lauren stresses how Stephisha’s life has served as a resume for her work ethic and that she is excited to match her passion and meet her where she’s at. As both organizations have been founded on the bases of the advancement of students (and of course a little bit of love), she plans to utilize these combined missions to make their support as accessible and as profitable as possible. She hopes to collaborate with Playbook Series Inc to provide a feeling of limitless reach to their respective audiences. Furthermore, she’s thrilled to be working with Stephisha and to cultivate a solid partnership that will show longevity because of Lauren’s motto: “If you want to go fast, do it on your own. If you want to go far, do it with a team.”