The knowledge and perspectives of students with marginalized identities (e.g., Black, Brown, low-income, first-generation) have been routinely devalued in education broadly and in STEM education specifically. Classroom knowledge practices often create two groups of students: knowers, seen as capable contributors, and sub-knowers, positioned as less knowledgeable. Knowers, often being white and middle- to upper-class, are valued in academic spaces, while sub-knowers, often coming from marginalized backgrounds, face low-skill, decontextualized instruction. This dynamic reinforces educational inequities, causing many sub-knowers to shy away from, fear, or feel disconnected from science and mathematics disciplines. Third/non-traditional academic spaces hold the potential to disrupt this cycle and position STEM education as a tool for liberation by providing intellectually safe spaces where students are encouraged to see themselves as knowledge creators rather than just knowledge receivers. Research in K-12 shows that when students’ diverse identities are valued and integrated into the curriculum authentically, learning outcomes improve. Leveraging this, the Dream Space Summer Institute relies on three key characteristics:
(1) a co-design model that positions Black and Brown students as mathematical knowers and agents in their education;
(2) justice-oriented, antiracist scenario-based math modules addressing sociopolitical injustices in students’ communities; and
(3) the use of technology to facilitate both.

This paper examines how approximately 20 secondary students in a 12-day scenario-based antiracist math summer institute worked in teams with math and technology coaches to collaboratively design justice-oriented math instruction and assessment modules involving real-world applications. The institute encouraged students to:
(a) engage in exploratory thinking,
(b) operate as researchers and mathematicians, and
(c) experience joy in learning and growing.

Using an ethnographic research design and a critical race methodological perspective, I analyze how students engaged with mathematics as knowledge holders and active participants in their learning. I examined students' daily journals, teacher-student interviews, classroom observations, and other artifacts to explore how students experienced empowered engagement through the institute's anti-racist pedagogical approach, focusing on how they enacted their own sense of agency.

Students exhibited diverse epistemological stances, challenged paternalism, understood and reacted to structural racism, and enacted activism through mathematical inquiry. Findings suggested that antiracist mathematics tasks fostered a sense of agency by positioning students as capable mathematical thinkers and problem-solvers. They reported feeling cared for, experiencing joy, appreciating knowledge, and a deep motivation for initiating change. Their engagement was deeply tied to belonging, liberatory learning environments, and collaborative exploration. Students also felt a heightened sense of civic empowerment, recognizing their ability to create change in their communities through their math projects. This study highlights the need to design antiracist, intellectually safe spaces that emphasize exploration, collaboration, and real-world applications, ensuring that students feel empowered and valued in mathematics learning by uplifting their social identities.

Keywords: Student-Agency, Secondary Education, Third-Spaces, Ethnographic, Belonging, Intellectual Safety, Culturally Responsive.