It is a Wednesday afternoon at a secondary school in Douala. While most students head home after the final bell, around 25 students aged 10–15 are filing into a classroom that has been transformed into something different: a STEM Club session with Giiyo Tech.
Bags drop. Laptops open. The energy shifts. This is where the learning gets serious — and seriously fun.
The Opening: A Real-World Challenge
Every Giiyo Tech STEM Club session opens with a challenge — a real problem drawn from the world around students. This week: 'Your school canteen loses hundreds of paper receipts each week. How could technology help?'
Students break into teams of three and spend five minutes brainstorming. Ideas fly: a mobile app, a QR code system, a simple spreadsheet with a search function. No idea is too simple or too ambitious. The facilitator's job in this phase is to listen and ask questions, not to direct.
The Skill Block: Building the Foundations
After the opening challenge, the session moves into the skill block — the core curriculum for the week. This term, the club is working through web development with HTML and CSS. Today's focus: how to build a responsive navigation menu.
The facilitator introduces the concept with a short live demo, showing students a navigation menu on a real website and then revealing the code underneath. Students then open their own editors and attempt to recreate it.
This is where the magic of small group learning shows. Students help each other debug. The facilitator moves around the room, spending more time with students who are stuck and challenging faster students to add a hover effect or a mobile hamburger menu.
The Build Session: Projects Come Alive
The second half of every session is reserved for project work. Each student is building a personal project across the full term — a website, an app prototype, or an interactive presentation that solves a real problem they have identified in their school or community.
By the end of term, these projects will be presented to the school community at a mini showcase. Some will go on to compete in the regional round of the Giiyo STEM Innovation Summit.
The Wrap-Up: Reflection and Next Steps
With ten minutes left, the session comes together for a quick reflection. What did students learn today? What are they stuck on? What are they excited to work on before next week?
Facilitators use this time to note who needs extra support and to set a mini challenge for students to try at home — something bite-sized that reinforces the day's lesson without feeling like homework.
Why the STEM Club Model Works
The weekly rhythm of a STEM Club builds something that intensive one-off workshops cannot: consistent practice, growing confidence, and a real sense of progress. Students who join at the beginning of a term not knowing what HTML stands for often finish it having built and deployed a live website.
More than the technical skills, the clubs build collaboration, problem-solving, and the confidence to try — and fail, and try again. Those are the qualities that make great engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs.
How to Bring a STEM Club to Your School
Giiyo Tech runs STEM Clubs in schools across Cameroon during the academic year. If you are a school principal, teacher, or parent who wants to bring this experience to your community, get in touch. We handle the curriculum, facilitation, and equipment — you provide the space and the students.
Bring a STEM club to your school
See how our school clubs work, then tell us about your school and the activities you would like your students to explore.
Giiyo Tech
Content Team
The Giiyo Technologies content and communications team.
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