2026: Summer of Growth

Beam is at our most ambitious in summer. At a time of year when many look for ways to power down, Beam powers up and stretches ourselves to grow. 

The array of experiences, learning, and projects expands along with the size of our staff and the number of young people with whom we collaborate. This summer we did some unprecedented stretching.

This summer we did some unprecedented stretching. Over 1,700 young people - from 3rd graders to 12th graders - worked with 153 Beam Instructors at 30 locations across the city to build hundreds of projects. More than a third of our staff this summer were former participants of our programs; some we’ve known since they were in single digits and others we met when they were in high school. Together, they explored design, mechanics, prototyping, carpentry, metalworking, textiles, digital fabrication, and more.