No stopping this year's Oakland Tech valedictorian as he holds free summer science camp

OAKLAND, Calif. - There’s no resting on laurels or slowing down for Oakland Technical High School graduate and this year’s valedictorian, Ahmed Muhammad, as the teen has spent his summer dedicated to his mission to give back to the community he loves.

Oakland Technical H.S. graduate and the 2021 valedictorian holds free science summer camps for kids. (Ahmed Muhammad )

Kits Cubed Summer Camp 2021 has been Muhammad’s latest endeavor. So far, some 100 children, ages 4 through 13 have taken part, learning about science, getting their curiosity juices flowing, and working with experiments as part of Muhammad’s hope and passion to fill young inner city kids with the wonders of science.

Kits Cubed founder, Ahmed Muhammad, 18, holds free science summer camp for kids in Oakland. (Ahmed Muhammad )

In addition, the academic stand-out and entrepreneur has managed to make the one week camps free for families. He's already held two sessions and planned to run a couple more in the coming weeks.

Kits Cubed founder, Ahmed Muhammad, 18, holds free science summer camp for kids in Oakland. (Ahmed Muhammad )

To help cover the costs, Muhammad partnered with the Fam 1st Family Foundation, an organization led by former Oakland Tech football stars and NFL players Marshawn Lynch and Joshua Johnson. Kits Cubed also worked with the West Oakland Youth Center and the Verdese Carter Recreation Center in East Oakland, where the camps were being held.

Kits Cubed holds free science summer camps in Oakland for students ages 4-13. (Ahmed Muhammad )

Hoping to inspire future scientists, the teen has been leading the sessions, using materials distributed by his company, Kits Cubed, which he launched during the pandemic as he sought ways offer all kids equal access to science education.

As part of that effort, he’s spent much of the year building his non-profit, which has donated more than 3,000 science kits to students in the Oakland Unified School District.

Oakland Technical H.S. graduate Ahmed Muhammad founded science education company Kits Cubed and has distributed thousands of science kits to Oakland kids. (Ahmed Muhammad )

And that part about not resting on his laurels? The teen is not stopping there. He’s announced plans to donate an additional 10,000 plus more kits to OUSD and has been in the process of working with major community groups in hopes of holding a huge back-to-school giveaway event to get kids ready and prepared for the new school year.

The 18-year-old received national attention for his achievements, after being named Oakland Tech’s valedictorian this year, marking the first time in the school’s 107-year history that a black male has held that title.

Ahmed Muhammad gives valedictorian speech during Oakland Technical High School graduation ceremony on May 29, 2021.

He finished his four years at Tech with a cumulative 4.73-grade point average and was accepted to all 11 colleges he applied to, including Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, UC Berkeley and Stanford.

Ultimately, he decided to remain in the Bay Area and committed to Stanford University.

During his valedictorian speech at graduation in May, he told his audience "there's absolutely no way you can tell me that I'm the first Black person [male] capable of being valedictorian."

He went on to say, "For all of those who didn't get to maximize their potential, for all of those who had the ability but lacked the opportunity, I owe it to them to appreciate this history made by the people who put me in this position," Muhammad said, as he challenged his classmates to do their part for their community to help lift up those who come after.

It's clearly a challenge that the Oakland teen has fully embraced, as he's demonstrated time and again his commitment to that mission.