Oakland Teen Earns 4.0 GPA His First Year At Stanford As He Expands His Science-Education Non Profit

We love to share college success stories!

Nineteen-year-old Ahmed Muhammad, Oakland Technical High School’s first Black male class valedictorian, is still penning his story as he completes his first year of college with astounding success.

The beginning of his freshman year at Stanford University was busy for Muhammad, but he was still motivated to rise to the occasion. He earned a 4.05 grade-point average by the end of the two semesters with much credit to his high school alma mater, KTVU reported.

“My classes at Stanford in terms of how I approached them weren’t too much different from what my teachers required of me in high school,” he explained to the news outlet.

College was an adjustment for the scholar, from large class sizes to lecture halls full of hundreds of students.

But the discipline and lessons he learned in high school helped him navigate college.

Muhammad said, “I didn’t understand why they were expecting so much in high school, why they were tough on me, but now, com[ing] to college, I’m directly applying what they taught me.”

According to the rising sophomore, those expectations sparked an entrepreneurial spirit in him. In the wake of the pandemic, Muhammad founded Kits Cubed, a youth-led, nonprofit organization, out of his garage. He created hands-on science experiences for children through accessible and affordable science kits, summer camps, and other educational materials “purposefully designed to require little to no internet or computer access,” per the organization’s website.

Since its launch, Kits Cubed has been working to expand. From annual traditions such as last year’s end-of-summer science fair to offering free science camps at the West Oakland Youth Center, Muhammad has plans to inspire tens of thousands of young scientists across the Bay Area, the country, and the world.

Named a National Geographic Young Explorer, Muhammad is working to establish a pilot program to create new kits to be distributed to Oakland classrooms and integrated with the Oakland Unified School District’s science curriculum. This initiative intends to see the light of day through the nonprofit’s alignment with the Full Option Science System (FOSS) curriculum, a research-based science curriculum for grades K-8.

“So kids can actually take home the material and expand on the material that their teachers taught them,” Muhammad explained, adding, “It’s based on the same philosophy for kids to explore the things they know and are familiar with to show science is all around them.”

Muhammad is currently hiring students aged 16 to 24 in areas including kit development, community outreach, marketing and graphic design. He’s also encouraging young volunteers to apply for a summer internship with his organization. Check out the announcement via Instagram below:

You go Muhammad!