SOAR

SOAR originally stood for Seeing Our Achievers Rise and originated in 2019.  After having traveled for business and pleasure on 50+ trips within a five year period, the Founder of SS&S, Crystal Washington, began feeling bad about leaving her children behind, also realizing that her youngest son seemed to be unchallenged in a classroom and was more stimulated with hands-on learning in atypical learning environments.  After trips to domestic cities like Orlando, Chicago and Cincinnati, she felt it was extremely beneficial to include them in her plans for an international trip to Dubai.  As a belated Christmas gift, they set out on an adventure with a train ride from Windsor, Ontario, to Toronto followed by a flight to Dubai with a layover in Amsterdam.  That trip resulted in a learning experience that they documented in journals, videos and pictures.

Inspired by weeks of hearing her children recall all the activities and things they learned from that voyage, Crystal researched domestic destinations as a pilot trip for a small group of children to best benefit from activities that focused on STEM.  After several weeks of research, Orlando was selected with all-access at Wonderworks Amusement Park, two flight simulations at iFLY Indoor Skydiving and a full-day Kennedy Space Center Explore Tour that included lunch with an astronaut.  Five kids ranging from ages 7-18 participated along with their parents/guardians and, based on feedback from them all, it was suggested that a ‘SOAR with STEM’ trip be scheduled annually.