Reaching & teaching Reaching & teaching Reaching & teaching

Inspired by her father’s career in dentistry, Pamela Savagaonkar developed a passion for the STEM field, leading her to pursue advanced math and science courses at the University of Washington. Juggling her university studies with a full-time position at Seattle Children’s, she also embraced motherhood at a young age while finishing her degree.

Needing a family-friendly schedule, she chose a career in education and began teaching in Bellevue. After looking fruitlessly for summer STEM camps for her young children, she identified the need for academic and enrichment programs. With her teaching background, a bachelor’s degree in forest resources from the UW, and two master’s degrees in education, she took a leap and founded Cascade Enrichment in 2016.

She made Cascade Enrichment especially family friendly by having her staff of more than 50 educators drive to kids’ homes for tutoring sessions or deliver help remotely. “Kids like having tutoring from home instead of at a facility,” she says.

Snoqualmie Valley-based Cascade Enrichment offers STEM nights in local schools as well as summer STEM camps where kids can build a catapult and make xylophones with jars of water. Savagaonkar also created an assessment system that provides parents with data to understand how their children are doing. No wonder Cascade Enrichment is such a success.