In the early 1990s, Susan Freiburg, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work, and fellow graduate student in the College of Engineering, Joy Laskar, came up with the idea of starting a science program for children who live in a public housing complex near the university. They took their idea to Laura Schmitt, Assistant to the Director of UIUC Microelectronics Lab, and, Beverly Thurman-Bell, manager of the Parkside Mansard Square Housing Complex in Champaign. Together Susan, Joy, Laura and Beverly wrote a grant for the program. They named the program the "Bouchet Outreach and Acheivement in Science and Technology" (BOAST) program after Edward Alexander Bouchet who was the first African-American to earn a PhD from an American University. In 1992, the program was funded by the National Science Foundation Human Services Directorate.

In 1994 Susan was diagnosed with leukemia. In May of 1996 she participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Children from the BOAST program supported her in this endeavor. They danced at the opening ceremony, helped erect her tent, accompanied her on some of her trips around the track and walked around the track while she rested. They contributed $87.17 to the American Cancer Society as a result of the relay.

Sadly, Susan died in the fall of 1996.