PHILADELPHIA, PA- January 28, 2025: Rodney McLeod Jr., former Philadelphia Eagle and newly retired 13-year NFL safety, alongside his wife Erika McLeod, will take 35 middle school students from West Oak Lane Charter School to the iHeartRadio studios in Bala-Cynwyd this Thursday, January 30, 2025, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour and career workshop!
The event will run from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at iHeartMedia, Inc., located at 111 Presidential Boulevard, as part of the S.T.E.A.M. Fusion & City Tour program created by the McLeods through their nonprofit, Change Our Future Foundation.
Students will participate in three rotating stations at iHeartRadio including a Live In-Studio Experience where they can observe on-air personalities and learn how live shows are produced, an Engineering and Behind-the-Scenes Session that explores what it takes to keep the station on the air and the team behind it, and a Career Readiness Station that provides insights into the skills students can build up and pathways to careers in music, media, and S.T.E.A.M!
Thursday’s opportunity is the culmination of Change Our Future’s three-month-long S.T.E.A.M. Fusion & City Tour initiative, which introduces 6th to 8th graders to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. As part of the program, the West Oak Lane students have had the opportunity to participate in a number of hands-on S.T.E.A.M. experiences, including a CPR Training Workshop, a Chemical Engineering Experiment, and a Science and Sports “Touchdown Tech” Workshop that challenged students to use their ingenuity to design and build their own football helmets to better understand the physics and biomechanics behind collisions and concussions.
Launched in 2020, the S.T.E.A.M. Fusion program has rapidly expanded from a series of classroom workshops to a comprehensive City Tour of career sessions across Philadelphia. Designed to address systemic barriers that often limit students’ access to S.T.E.A.M. education and careers, the program specifically serves students from economically challenged communities.
By bringing S.T.E.A.M. Fusion workshops directly into schools, the McLeods are providing critical early exposure to the fields of Healthcare, Meteorology and News, Aeronautics and Space, and Sports. The program addresses three critical challenges for students in underserved areas: a lack of awareness about S.T.E.A.M. fields, limited access to resources, and insufficient hands-on experiences. By providing interactive workshops, facility tours like Thursday’s iHeartRadio career experience, and valuable mentorship opportunities, S.T.E.A.M. Fusion empowers students to envision and pursue meaningful futures in these fields.
Change Our Future’s impact also extends beyond the S.T.E.A.M. Fusion & City Tour program. The nonprofit’s initiatives throughout Philadelphia range from fundraising events like their annual Sneaker Ball to the Next Man Up high school mentorship program to district-wide Annual Youth Leadership Summits, all designed to enrich the lives of underserved students through education, literacy, and community engagement.
For more information on Change Our Future and the S.T.E.A.M. Fusion program, please visit ChangeOurFuture.org and follow them on Instagram @changeourfuturefund.
For media inquiries, please contact Sherrie Handrinos at Sherrie@Boostonemarketing.com or call 734-341-6859.
First & Jenn 
Leave a comment