How a Teen-Led Group Brings Science to 100, 000 Kids—and What It Takes to Keep It Running

At 16, Iona Nandy splits her time between high school and running a student-led startup that teaches science to kids nationwide. Her group, STEMsters, sends volunteers into classrooms—or sometimes just into Zoom calls—to lead hands-on projects for up to 96, 000 elementary students every year. The organization now has 169 branches in different states, but that growth brings real problems. Keeping lessons consistent across schools spread across the country is tough. One chapter in New Jersey might have different resources than another, which can affect how well kids learn. Funding is another headache. The whole operation runs on donations and volunteer time, so money is always tight.What surprises Nandy isn’t the science—the kids love the experiments—but how the activities bring strangers together. At the start of a session, children often stick with their usual friends. By the time they finish building robots or testing circuits, they’re high-fiving new teammates. These small social breakthroughs might matter as much as the STEM skills they pick up. Still, scaling this effort isn’t easy. With so many chapters, the leadership team has to create clear lesson plans and training so every volunteer teaches the same material, whether they’re in a rich suburb or a smaller town. Nandy herself handles publicity from her hometown in Scotch Plains, sending out social media posts and coordinating with local schools. It’s one more task added to homework, clubs, and sleep. She’s not alone—most of her peers juggle school with running the organization. For all its success, STEMsters faces the same questions any growing network does: How do you stay true to your mission when you spread too thin?