With the Government urging schools in the public system to focus more on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas, Kavelle Hylton, a trained teacher, saw an opportunity to combine her passion as an educator with her entrepreneurial drive.

Hylton conceptualised and brought to market what is now known as STEM Builders Learning Hub. She started the business online by offering tutoring services but she told the Jamaica Observer that the business quickly evolved into much more.

“It started because I was teaching, I taught in the public system for over seven years and while I was teaching I used to tutor on the side so I thought what if we could create a website or system where it would be easy for students to find STEM tutors and that’s how STEM Builders really started. I wanted to give them that hands-on approach,” she stated.

From there, the entrepreneur devised the idea of creating lab kits to help students along the learning process.

“I went to Trench Town [High School], we didn’t have a science lab and I wanted to do chemistry and physics but I could only do human and social biology. So these kits will actually be able to address that situation in those schools. Persons can also donate a kit to their school where students will now be able to do things like photosynthesis experiments, it’s a lab in a box,” she informed.

“The kits are tailored to our local curriculum and it includes the activities you’d have to do to complete the syllabus, we also have video tutorials and we also offer classes to take you through,” Hylton added.

And it’s not just for students who are still in school, she explained the kits are helpful for anyone studying the sciences or for those who simply have an interest in scientific exploration.

“We assist persons at all levels of the education system. We have products for students ages three all the way up to adult learners. If you are doing biology, chemistry or physics but you are no longer in school, so you’re a private candidate and you’ll have to do a paper 3, you need to get those practical skills in order to be good at paper 3 and pass the exam. You can purchase one of our science kits and that will allow you to be able to carry out some experiments anywhere, you don’t need a lab. We trying to address the issue of access and lack of quality science resources for some schools,” she stated.

The science kits go for as low as $5,500 for the ‘prep for pep’ service and as high as $12,000 including a lab coat and goggles.

At the same time, she noted that the business is providing lucrative jobs for local and regional educators who have been seeking opportunities overseas.

“It started here in Jamaica, our kits are locally assembled and all the graphic design for our labels everything is done here in Jamaica, supporting other local businesses. Just this week we had over 100 applications for tutors and it’s not just persons who are in the education system that can tutor. If you are a professional that’s skilled in your area with a first degree, you can tutor through STEM Builders,” she pointed out while highlighting the job prospects.

In that vein, she noted that the business is growing and continues to rake in significant revenue.

“It’s challenging but it is lucrative, the market is great. We are one of the first persons in the market to actually start offering this service so there’s a lot of expansion. For example, when we have our summer programmes we have students across the island join us online and they get the science kits delivered to them. So it’s a good market.”

“We just opened our physical location in Portmore and we want to promote our STEM centre for persons to come in and do their SBAs, for example, to come in and ignite the little scientists, the smaller kids or little Einstein’s as we call them,” Hylton continued.

STEM Builders have created about 20 jobs so far and also focuses on subject areas outside of the sciences including English, social studies, French, Spanish and geography.