Cyber DiversPhiladelphia, PA

About

Cyber Divers is a Philadelphia nonprofit built around one bet.

That a child who is behind at eight is not behind at eighteen, provided the adults around them act while the window is still open.

Where the name comes from

Cyber comes from kybernetes, the Greek word for steersman. It is the root of cybernetics, the study of systems, feedback, and control: how a signal loops back and changes the next move. It has only meant computers for about seventy years. It has meant steering for three thousand.

That is what we teach. A child who can see a system, find where it gives, and adjust is a child who can steer. Divers is the other half: you do not learn a system from the surface. You go down into it.

What we do

We run hands-on programs for 2nd through 5th graders in Northwest Philadelphia. The material changes. The cognitive work does not.

  • The table is puzzles.
  • The field is soccer.
  • The water is swimming.
  • The trail is hikes and obstacle courses.
  • The screen is code and STEM.
  • The block is neighborhood cleanups.

Six surfaces, one skill. Read the system, act, watch what comes back, adjust. A child who only ever does one of these learns they are one kind of person. A child who does all six learns the thinking transfers.

We work in the hours that nobody else is funding: after school, on weekends, over the summer. That is where the difference between a child in an under-resourced district and a child in a well-resourced one actually accumulates.

Who we serve

Children in Germantown, West Oak Lane, and Mount Airy, primarily, with puzzle donations going to youth-serving organizations more broadly. Our programs are free to the families we serve.

Leadership

Organization

Cyber Divers Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization registered in Pennsylvania.

  • EIN 84-3787165
  • 8420 Temple Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19150
  • Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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A term of programming costs less than you would guess.

Materials, a trained facilitator, and transportation for one child through a full session of puzzle labs is a small number. Multiplied across a classroom, it changes what a nine-year-old believes they are capable of.

Donate now