Many people lack a clear grasp of what happens in non-school educational settings and adults have often never experienced the innovative and dynamic afterschool and summer STEM programs that exist today. Telling a descriptive, intentionally framed program story—or an “Explanatory Example”—gives people a concrete understanding of how learning happens. It offers the opportunity to show how afterschool and summer learning works and why it’s so powerful: it is about creating opportunities and contexts for youth to follow their spark, building real STEM skills, and helping students connect STEM to their lives and communities. Whether you’re crafting a program description for a brochure, website copy, blog post, or presentation, use these guidelines to create an effective Explanatory Example: