A former student at Oakland Technical High School and now a sophomore at Stanford University, he’s devising new ways to get Oakland kids interested in science.

Nineteen-year-old Ahmed Muhammad was once the first black male delegate to Auckland University of Technology. He is the founder of “Kits Cubed” while currently attending Stanford University.

On Wednesday, Muhammad was a teacher for a day at Auckland’s Piedmont Avenue Elementary School. His lesson plans are heartfelt, hands-on, and reach out to students in a different way, so they weren’t traditional science classes.

“Science shouldn’t be a desert or fun. It should be something they should have consistently,” he said.

Muhammed started Kits Cubed during the pandemic to create free, hands-on science kits for students. Its mission is to make science fun and affordable for otherwise inaccessible and underprivileged children.

“Bringing it into schools and communities that cannot afford it and making it accessible is what really should happen. Every child should have the opportunity to explore science,” Muhammad said. .

Kits are now in the hands of thousands of students, and Muhammad’s team is now teaching in 20 schools across the Oakland Unified School District, including Piedmont Avenue Elementary School.

“When the kids saw him, they saw themselves, especially our African-American students. Kind of like, he makes learning fun,” said Zarina Ahmad, principal of Piedmont Avenue Elementary School.

Beyond classrooms, Kits Cubed is hosting its second STEM fair on Saturday at Oakland Tech, with 1,500 people already signed up.

“We want to not only inspire children to science, but also foster a renewed love of learning in them,” Muhammad said.

For more information on these kits and how to get them, visit KitsCubed.com.