#MMBBR #PressRelease via @BookTrib #EDGEOFYESTERDAY #DAVINCISWAY by @robinpayes ‏#SmallBatchBook #STEM

According to a study by the Girl Scouts, 74 percent of girls report an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). The problem starts when they decide to pursue a career—only 13 percent express an interest in STEM as their top career choice. The result is some 200,000 STEM jobs going unfilled annually in the United States despite the fact that women in STEM fields earn 35 percent more than their peers.

“This is why so many organizations have launched STEM initiatives for girls, including the Girl Scouts, NASA and the New York Academy of Sciences. While encouraging interest in STEM is important, what they are missing is the need to teach a growth mindset that will enable lifelong learning, instill purpose and teach the kind of grit that powers through life’s setbacks,” says writer and educator Robin Stevens Payes.

Payes is tackling this problem on multiple fronts as she launches her EDGE OF YESTERDAY media company with her interactive website gamification modules, book series and teaching curriculum. “There isn’t a lot of STEM content for middle school girls that teaches the social and emotional skills they need to succeed,” says Payes. To address that, Payes is engaging young women in the media they love most—gaming, novels, videos, podcasts and social media, and combining this with innovative lesson plans—to teach girls how to succeed in STEM and in life.

Science fiction has been a gateway for generations for STEM achievers. In her science fiction series, the EDGE OF YESTERDAY, which continues with the DA VINCI’S WAY (Small Batch Books; October 2018), Payes introduces readers to heroine Charley Morton.  The eighth-grader creates the science fair project of the century—or perhaps the 13^th century—when she finds a way to travel back in time to meet her hero, Leonardo da Vinci. Payes uses da Vinci’s Key to Universal Learning:

On the EDGE OF YESTERDAY website, Payes encourages interactive learning by inviting young readers on a time travel journey to the Heroes of History, including da Vinci, Emilie du Chatelet, Albert Einstein, Hedy Lamarr, and present-day Renaissance heroes Tiffany Shlain, Diana Gabaldon, Erich Robinson-Tillenburg. The Teaching Lab opens channels to create STEM fan fiction complete with the inspiring Word of the Week.

EDGE OF YESTERDAY

By Robin Stevens Payes

Meeting Leonardo da Vinci in person isn’t your average middle-schooler’s dream science fair project, but Charley Morton isn’t your typical eighth-grader. Charley is mad about science and math and, with her best bud Billy Vicenzo, she’s set on doing the impossible—finding da Vinci's plans for a time machine and traveling back 500 years to meet her idol. 

Robin Stevens Payes is firing up a love for science with the second book in her thrilling EDGE OF YESTERDAY science fiction series, DA VINCI’S WAY (Small Batch Books; October 2018). The books are designed to open the minds of middle-grade readers to the adventure of learning about STEM/STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) through storytelling.

STEM is the fastest-growing sector in employment—up 28 percent since 2000, compared to 6 percent in other fields, according to the U.S. News/Raytheon STEM index. In fact, America is sorely lacking in college graduates with STEM degrees. From 2014-2015 in the U.S. there were only some 30K STEM graduates for approximately 230K STEM jobs. Clearly, engaging the attention of children, especially girls and young people of color who are too often excluded from exposure to STEM, is of paramount importance. 

To help America reverse that trend, Payes is creating a curriculum that will present STEM through play, discovery, character, creativity and storytelling. Her lesson plans, workshops, interactive games and novels use the vast array of popular mediums, including print, web, digital, social media and video, to take advantage of the human brain's affinity for story.

The Edge of Yesterday series will go a step further and create an online community for teens that will:

·         Promote reading for content and inspiration by opening the gateway to STEM and STEAM learning.

·         Inspire curiosity, creativity and a love of learning using Leonardo da Vinci's example of intrinsic learning.

·         Encourage teens to be curious, to engage with their passions, to discover new ideas, and to tell their stories in a variety of media.

·         Connect learning to life that inspires a drive to mastery.

The ultimate aim is to nurture a growth mindset, a learning foundation that will increase young people’s capacity for learning, instill purpose and help them remain motivated in the face of life’s most difficult challenges.

ROBIN STEVENS PAYES is the author of Edge of Yesterday, a serial science fiction story and interactive web platform designed to blow young minds, tap creative juices, and explore the truths our stories are telling us in IRL. She works with teens through the Maryland Writers Association teen clubs, Girls in Technology, and the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning.

DA VINCI’S WAY

By Robin Stevens Payes

Small Batch Books; October 2018

$15.00; 128 pages

ISBN: 978-1-937650-83-4