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Down to a science

Teacher ships STEM boxes with USPS

Medinah Eatman, founder of Science.Teacher.Mom, uses USPS to ship about 200 science kits each month.

Medinah Eatman believes in science.

As the coronavirus pandemic shuttered classrooms and made virtual learning more prevalent last year, the New Jersey science teacher began a subscription service to help homeschooling parents and fellow educators keep kids engaged in the STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math.

Today, Eatman’s online business — Science.Teacher.Mom — ships an average of 200 boxes each month to customers, providing them with lesson plans, worksheets and other materials.

“It definitely started because of the pandemic and by accident,” Eatman said.

After the pandemic upended everyday life last spring, Eatman and her husband, Tariq, found themselves spending a lot more time at home with their sons, Eisah and Bilal. She began sharing popular Instagram videos of the boys and herself conducting science experiments, then started giving science-themed boxes to friends and family.

“The word got out and people were like, ‘Do you have more?’” she said.

Eatman decided to create a subscription service for the boxes, making Science.Teacher.Mom one of the estimated 4.4 million businesses that began last year, one of the pandemic’s surprising byproducts.

A Science.Teacher.Mom box is $35 for per month for subscribers or $39.97-$49.97 for one-time purchases. Some boxes are centered around a theme — such as an Earth Day box in April and a “summer camp in a box” in July and August — and customized boxes are available for science-themed birthday celebrations, too.

Through it all, USPS has been integral to Science.Teacher.Mom’s success.

At first, Eatman’s husband dropped off the boxes for shipment at the Ridgefield, NJ, Post Office. The employees there noticed how many trips the family was making and arranged for the Eatmans to use the Package Pickup service.

Eatman sees the Postal Service as a kindred spirit — the Star Wars Droids stamps are designed to raise awareness of STEM, and Sun Science stamps were released June 18 — but she also values the organization’s affordable shipping options.

“I only use USPS,” she said. “It’s the easy and economical choice for me to let subscribers know that their fun is on the way.”

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