A Baltimore STEM Program Mixes Dirt Bikes And Science : NPR

B-360, run by founder Brittany Young, is a program that seeks to offer alternatives to recklessly riding dirt bikes and ATVs on city streets. B-360, run by founder Brittany Young, is a program that seeks to offer alternatives to recklessly riding dirt bikes and ATVs on city streets.In an empty lot along the railroad tracks in Baltimore, the passing train horn competes with the reverberating buzz of dirt bikes.The buzz is coming from a Saturday morning class for students at B-360, a nonprofit that uses dirt bikes to teach elementary and high school students math and science. Brittany Young, CEO and founder of the nonprofit B-360, speaks with a couple of people from the neighborhood, who heard the dirt bikes and came to the parking lot to ride themselves. Brittany Young, CEO and founder of the nonprofit B-360, speaks with a couple of people from the neighborhood, who heard the dirt bikes and came to the parking lot to ride themselves."Fixing and repairing a bike is mechanical engineering," says Brittany Young, an engineering sciences educator who founded the program. Tony Saunders, 15 (from left), Daron Harrell, 14, and Tathaiso Martin, 18, talk during a brief break in the riding.Although she does not ride dirt bikes, Baltimore native Young says she grew up around them — smelling the gas and hearing them in the streets of her neighborhood. but did not believe we should just only police our ways out of it."Earlier this month, B-360 began working with the state attorney's office to divert riders who have been arrested for a dirt bike offense away from prison, and toward their passion."They have great programs in terms of education, in connecting people to jobs and training," says Michael Collins, the director of strategic policy and planning for the state attorney's office. "They have a great ethos around keeping people off the streets as much as possible, in showing people how to learn from their passion around dirt bikes."Jeremiah — we're not using his last name to protect his privacy — was doing his first day of community service with B-360 as part of a diversion program. They really bond over learning tricks and repairing bikes together."I could be feeling down, and once I get on that dirt bike all that stress and sadness is gone," says Harrell, 14, who wants to be a mechanical engineer.