During a Go Baby Go workshop, Professor Michele Dischino noticed that Barbara Sehgal’s developing curriculum had the potential to extend far beyond a single hands-on session. She shared the idea with Mark Harrell, director of the STEM Center for Teaching and Learning at the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA). Impressed by the model, they encouraged Sehgal to present the curriculum at ITEEA’s annual conference in March to benefit the broader engineering education community. 

Sehgal has since refined the program into a sequenced curriculum in which each unit builds on the last, guiding students toward increasingly deeper understanding of engineering and adaptive design.

Students begin by understanding what mobility challenges look like and why independent movement matters. They learn engineering basics, then practice safely drilling, soldering, wire stripping, and cutting.

Then comes a critical lightbulb moment: midway through the project, students practice modifications on a deliberately floppy model.

“I intentionally wanted the model to feel unstable so students could truly understand how much assistance these children require,” Sehgal says. “That moment pushes them to think like engineers, identifying a real problem and working to improve it.”

This hands-on experience transforms abstract empathy into concrete understanding. Students feel the weight and think about the lack of muscle tone as they work on their car. Students also work with physical therapists to understand their specific recipient. They’re not just building a car; rather, they’re building this child’s car.

“We are creating an opportunity for students to experience design thinking firsthand,” Sehgal explains. “It begins with empathy, understanding who they are designing for.”

Last spring at Yavneh Academy, eighth-graders Adam Gershuni and Seth Lazar modified a car alongside CIJE Mentors Christopher Auger-Dominguez and Barbara Sehgal for a bright-eyed little girl at HASC.

During the build, mentors showed videos of children in strollers, unable to keep up with siblings. Then, the same children in modified cars, independently mobile, fully included in play.

“Unlike being on the robotics team, this is personal,” Seth reflects. “You’re giving it to someone, and it’s actually going to make a difference in their lives.”

That personal connection drove deeper learning. Adam rattles off the technical lessons: “making sure the car doesn’t short-circuit or drive backwards. Readjusting wheels and seats.” The skills stuck. Both students, now freshmen at The Frisch School, say Go Baby Go made their current coding and circuit classes easier.

But the real transformation came from understanding who they were building for.

“It felt nice building something for kids who could benefit from it,” Adam said. 

Their teachers learned too. Yavneh faculty advisors Jason David and Gilit Herman discovered how to teach safe drill operation, PVC cutting, and proper tool use. For the program to scale across CIJE’s network of nearly 200 schools, teachers need this training. Each pilot school not only tests the curriculum, but also the repeatable model that makes the program successful.

Making this work requires intricate coordination. Each school needs partnerships with special-needs organizations, access to physical therapists and engineers for technical support, and families willing to share medical information and participate.

CIJE partnered with HASC for the Yavneh Academy pilot and is expanding relationships with organizations in Passaic, Woodmere, Brooklyn, and Baltimore.

When Naftali received his modified car, his mother wrote: “Naftali is thrilled with his car! He is a champ, a little man in a car!”

But the most powerful moment happened, as they often do, spontaneously. In the HASC schoolyard, the little girl sat in her newly modified white car. A boy with Down syndrome, playing in his toy car nearby, slid right up next to her.

The two children played side by side without prompting or direction. Just two kids, playing together. “That was the whole point,” Sehgal says. “I was so excited!”

At its core, this initiative reflects the Jewish principle that every human being is created B’tzelem Elokim, in the image of God. Every child deserves dignity. Every child deserves agency. Every child deserves to play.

“We’re asking students to see others through the lens of dignity and possibility,” Sehgal explains. “It’s about designing for real needs and believing in every child’s potential.”

Through Go Baby Go, students learn that true inclusion is about making everyone feel valued and welcomed by engineering solutions that allow full participation.

For students who participated, the program opened unexpected doors.

“You discover your passion,” Seth reflects. “Maybe you like working with kids. Maybe it’s programming, coding, or engineering. All these things can grow from this.”

“It made it easier to figure out what I want to do,” Adam agrees.

Seth and Adam continue to pursue their interest in robotics, coding, and programming by participating in the engineering track at their high school, The Frisch School, and by being part of the CIJE VEX robotics team. CIJE programs develop alongside students, from elementary school through high school graduation. 

The response across CIJE’s network has been overwhelming. Daily requests arrive from schools eager to launch their own programs. “I get emails every day,” Sehgal says. “When can I do this? How can I do this?”

High school teachers have even pushed for their own curriculum that echoes the middle school pilot. In response, Sehgal developed an outline for six biomedical engineering projects with Arduino microprocessors and advanced modifications. The high school curriculum launches after Sehgal presents at the ITEEA conference in March.

Each car represents a child gaining independence and students learning that STEM solves real problems for real people, through inclusion, dignity, and believing in every child’s potential.