鈥淕uam doesn’t have a lot of STEM opportunities at all,鈥� Kim said. 鈥淓ven at the University of Guam, it’s so small that we barely have any basic laboratory [equipment], like what other universities would have.鈥�

When the 17-year-old student learned of a highly competitive U.S. summer science program, she applied. Little did she know that she would not only be accepted, but flown to the small, rural town of Chadron, nestled in the sandhills of western Nebraska.

In June, Kim began the biochemistry program at , a nonprofit that has offered residential summer STEM research opportunities to teenagers since 1959. She and 35 other rising seniors spent five weeks at Chadron State College, conducting research with professors and graduate students to help prevent fungal infection of agricultural crops.

The college is one of 14 universities across the nation that housed 600 students this summer to tackle research projects in fields like astrophysics and cell biology. Chadron State 鈥� a school of roughly 2,000 students 鈥� joined the organization鈥檚 list of partners this year to expand the biochemistry program, which also takes place at Purdue and Indiana universities. 

Rachel Avard, a biology professor at Framingham State University in Massachusetts, worked with SSP International students at Purdue University last year. This summer, she came to Chadron for the same reason: to help aspiring scientists gain key STEM skills, along with personal growth and preparation for college.

鈥淔or many of them, this is the first time in their lives that they haven’t been 鈥榯he best鈥� immediately walking in the door,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re really able to hold their hand through the process of learning how to grow these skills and how to work in a team, how to adjust to failure, how to work through all these challenges.鈥�

The three colleges in SSP International鈥檚 biochemistry program are working on the . When the last session ends, students will have designed a molecule that could inhibit enzyme activity and prevent fungal infection of crops. It鈥檚 a task that SSP International students have been working on for a few years, Avard said. The organization is collecting participants鈥� research results that can hopefully be used to help create a drug to protect crops in the future.

鈥淔ungal pathogens are killing sometimes 鈥� up to 50% or 60% of crops every year. And we have all these pesticides and fungicides, but they’re all extremely toxic,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o the goal for this project is to develop a drug that is going to kill fungi.鈥�

The workload includes 60-hour weeks in the college鈥檚 science and math wing. Days are filled with in-depth classroom lectures and team discussions before students pull on latex gloves to conduct experiments in the lab.

Everyone gets one-hour breaks for rest or meals, but the students often end up in the lab after sunset or during personal time on weekends. Dinners are always business casual and include professional networking opportunities with guest speakers. Avard and other faculty also take the students on field trips or host games in the evenings to help them work as a team. 

The rigor of the summer science program was a surprise for many, including Kim.

鈥淚 didn’t know it’d be this intense. The first three days, I would say, were the most intense of my life 鈥� like exam season 鈥� but it makes me feel productive, and I think that’s what’s really important,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd good results are going to come out soon. Science is exciting. You don’t know what’s going to happen. So it keeps us on all of our toes and wanting to do our best.鈥�

Researchers have found that high-quality academic preparation and exposure to STEM is a in high schoolers’ chances of landing a STEM career. In a 2023 , 75% of Gen Z youth said they were interested in STEM occupations but only 29% listed a STEM role as their first career choice.

A 2021 Purdue University study on SSP International鈥檚 summer science program found that 鈥渆ngaging in authentic research as a high school student has the ability to in STEM.鈥�

鈥淭he thought is not just that we are trying to teach science to some students, but we wanted to give students a transformational experience at a pivotal time in their life,鈥� said Amy Belote, the organization’s vice president of program operations. 鈥淲hen they’re leaving the summer science program, they’re getting ready to start their senior year of high school 鈥� thinking about their future, what they envision for themselves. We’re giving them some hands-on experience before they start making all of those plans.鈥�

The program accepts only about 15% of applicants, Belote said, and tries to balance the number of males and females in each cohort. In Chadron, the group consists of 18 girls and 18 boys. 

The program comes with a hefty price tag: $9,800. Nearly half of participants last year received financial aid, and about a third were able to go for free. Students can also receive spending money and $3,000 stipends to replace wages they would have earned during the summer if they were at home.

Avard said these facets of the program allow students of a variety of backgrounds to experience something that can change their life trajectory. Witnessing each student鈥檚 personal growth 鈥� secluded on a college campus with a small group of people for five weeks, working long hours 鈥� is her favorite part.

鈥淥n day one, they’re not making eye contact. They’re very shy. They’re all very unsure,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey’ve never really been alone or without parental supervision all day, every day. And so the growth that we see in just even the first couple weeks is phenomenal.鈥�

This summer was Aiden Fee鈥檚 first time visiting the Midwest. A 16-year-old from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he said he learned to love the open landscape and friendly people in town. He also became more comfortable with meeting new people in unfamiliar settings.

鈥淚’ve learned a lot more about teamwork and asking questions,鈥� Fee said. 鈥淎 lot of the students here are some of the highest-achieving at their school. Whenever you have so many people like that, it’s about not being a leader, but relying on other people.鈥�

Kim said she鈥檚 looking forward to using the organization鈥檚 alumni network, which provides group and one-on-one mentoring for recent participants as they transition from high school to college. 

鈥淭hese [past] weeks will be the most intense and challenging time of my life. But it’s been so eye-opening. I’ve met so many people from different cultures, and I just can’t wait for the future, because we all aspire to be some type of scientist,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I can’t wait to see where this program leads us.鈥�

Fourth-grade teacher Megan Lovins would study the county鈥檚 curriculum guides each year to piece together the best science lessons possible. But in 2021, bulky, blue crates arrived at her classroom door in Hudson Elementary 鈥� and a new way to teach science practically fell in her lap.

Her district had agreed to participate in to study the impact of new curriculum and professional development on student achievement.

A Newton’s cradle to demonstrate physics. Empty tin cans to help illustrate static electricity. Measuring cups, tape, rulers and more. As Lovins emptied the crates, she realized she had all the equipment needed to teach tangible science activities.

鈥淚 am a hands-on teacher, so I fell in love with it instantly,鈥� she said.

The materials were part of a five-year randomized controlled study by the that launched in the 2019-20 school year. With a $4.5 million federal grant, the center provided its own high-quality science curriculum and professional development to 37 schools in North and South Carolina to study how combining the two impacted test scores.

Researchers found that pairing the curriculum, 鈥淪mithsonian Science for the Classroom,鈥� with high-quality professional development improved students’ science, math and reading test scores. The study also showed positive results in science for students who are typically underrepresented in STEM fields, such as girls and children of color.

鈥淭here’s no other randomized controlled trial study that鈥檚 done this in elementary school using these standards,鈥� said Carol O鈥橠onnell, the center’s director. 鈥淪o this is a big deal for the field.鈥�

The trial followed 1,600 students in third through fifth grades over the course of three academic years. Of the 37 schools, 19 were classified as 鈥渢reatment鈥� and given the Smithsonian curriculum and professional development, while 18 were assigned to a comparison group and continued like normal without any intervention.

Amy D鈥橝mico, director of professional services for the Smithsonian center, said the pandemic made it more difficult to get schools on board. In a world that was changing daily, superintendents were being asked to say yes to hefty commitment 鈥� with no guarantee they would receive the new curriculum.

鈥淭ypically, people want to be in the intervention group,鈥� D鈥橝mico said. 鈥淎nd we’re asking people to sign on for five years, not knowing what the next week or month was going to look like.鈥�

Lovins said that at first, she was hesitant about participating in the study. The main focus in her fourth grade classroom was to keep her students healthy during the pandemic.

鈥淲hen school did go back in session, we were in session every other day with half of our students for a long period of time. That mental toll made it challenging to pick up a new curriculum,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 a huge fan now.鈥�

Many of the schools selected were rural and high-needs, with large numbers of students who were low-income, had Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or were classified as English learners. In Caldwell County Schools, a district of nearly 11,000 students 70 miles northwest of Charlotte, eight schools participated in the trial, including Hudson Elementary.

Because of COVID-19, the treatment schools didn鈥檛 begin to receive professional development until spring 2021. At that point, teachers learned how to implement the curriculum by going through lessons as if they were students. 

D鈥橝mico said the professional learning was uncomfortable at first for some of the elementary teachers, because many didn鈥檛 have a science background. 

鈥淲e had to get in and get dirty and use our hands and learn those lessons,鈥� Lovins said. 鈥淚t’s amazing how many adults are scared of science 鈥� scared to teach science, because you’re afraid you’re going to say something wrong 鈥� so to be able to get in and use your hands to learn how to teach it made the teachers feel a lot more comfortable about implementing the curriculum in the classroom.鈥�

The Smithsonian science curriculum was phenomena-driven, meaning students actively investigate and try to explain real-world events. They collect data, ask questions, experiment with materials and draw conclusions as part of hands-on activities.

In one elementary school lesson, students observed changes in the night sky to figure out how Earth鈥檚 orbit around the sun influences which constellations are visible throughout the year. 

鈥淚f students ask questions about the world around them, you will get students to improve their interest (and) their self-confidence,鈥� O鈥橠onnell said. 

Lovins said she noticed over time that as her students used the Smithsonian lessons, they were able to retain information much more easily because they were using their hands to learn abstract concepts. She also saw a lot more joy while teaching science in the classroom. 

鈥淭hey would say, 鈥榃hen鈥檚 our next science class?鈥� 鈥� Lovins said. 鈥淭hey were begging for the next lesson because they were having so much fun with the hands-on (activities).鈥�

The University of Memphis Center for Research and Educational Policy evaluated the trial, testing students before and after the study while conducting classroom observations. The researchers evaluated the students鈥� science achievement with the (SAT10) while assessing reading and math achievement on state tests.

At the end of the study last year, students in the treatment group showed statistically significant gains in science relative to the comparison group. Overall, the comparison group ranked in the 50th percentile while the treatment group ranked in the 57th percentile in science on the SAT10.

Girls and students of color scored 7 points higher in science than children of the same demographic in comparison schools, while low-income students scored 6 percentile points higher and children with IEPs scored 15 points higher than comparison students with the same demographics.

Students in the treatment group also scored 4 points higher in reading and 6 points higher in math on their state assessments than those in the comparison group, the researchers found. 

The results suggest that student achievement in reading and math can improve through science instruction that uses real-world problems, where students have to 鈥渞ead, write, argue from evidence and make calculations,鈥� according to the study鈥檚

But it’s not just the curriculum; O鈥橠onnell said it’s important to implement the professional development piece along with it. 鈥淏ecause you would never give teachers just the curriculum 鈥� the intervention is the curriculum with aligned professional learning,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat’s our expectation in the field 鈥� that teachers get the support and the development of expertise they need, as well as the materials.鈥�

Lovins said teachers at her school are relearning Smithsonian curriculum this year to continue to implement it next fall. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 so good and it needs to be in every classroom,鈥� Lovins said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great program. I hope it stays around.鈥�

Historic Foust Elementary School has had a game changing start to the year. School and district leaders, parents, and community members were eager to get inside one of Greensboro鈥檚 newest elementary schools for their ribbon cutting ceremony on Feb. 3, 2025 to witness an innovative progression in the school鈥檚 history. They were greeted by students and the school鈥檚 robotic dog, Astro.

Foust Elementary School, part of (GCS), is the country鈥檚 first public gaming and robotics elementary school, according to the district. The school still sits on its original land, but the building has been rebuilt from the ground up. They began welcoming students into the new building at the start of 2025.

Foust Elementary School鈥檚 history goes all the way back to the 1960s. Foust student Nyla Parker read the following account at the ribbon cutting ceremony:

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鈥淪ince its construction in 1965, Julius I Foust Elementary School has prided itself in serving the students and families of its community, with the goal of creating citizens who will leave this place with high character and academic excellence. 鈥� Now, almost 60 years later, we welcome you to the new chapter of Foust Gaming and Robotics Elementary School. As a student here at Foust, I am excited about various opportunities that will be offered to me as I learn more about exciting industries such as gaming, robotics, coding, and 2D plus 3D animation. Thank you to the voters of our community for saying yes to the 2020 bond that allowed this place to become a reality for me and my fellow classmates. Game on!鈥�

Foust is a Title I school in a historically underinvested part of Guilford County. Several years ago, the district conducted a master facility study, which resulted in Foust getting on the list to receive an entirely new building.

鈥淔oust was one of the oldest buildings in the district and it was literally falling apart, so we were on the list to have a total new construction,鈥� said Kendrick Alston, principal of Foust.

鈥淒uring that time, we also talked with the district and really thought about, well, building a new school. What can we also do differently in terms of teaching and learning, instead of just building a new building?鈥�

The mission of Foust is to 鈥渆nvision a future where students are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and tools to lead the new global economy,鈥� according to . The new global economy, featuring high projected growth in , was a driving factor for planners as they decided to focus the school on gaming and robotics.

There are many jobs that can come from learning the skills necessary to build video games and robots. Looking at recent labor market trends, many of those jobs are growing. Web developers and digital designers have an 8% projected growth rate from 2023-2033 with a median pay of $92,750 per year, according to the .

鈥淲e looked at a lot of studies, we looked at research, and one of the things that we looked at was something from the World Economic Forum that looked at the annual jobs report. We saw that STEM, engineering, those kinds of jobs, were some of the top fastest growing jobs across the world,鈥� said Alston. 鈥淲hen we think about school looking different for our students and being engaging, well, let鈥檚 make it something that鈥檚 relevant to them but is also giving them a skill set that they can be marketable in the global workforce as well.鈥�

The team at Foust, including teachers and staff, have spent several months in specialized training on a new and unique curriculum designed to help prepare students for the ever evolving world of work. The building, designed to bring 21st century learning to life, is part of the first phase of schools constructed from .

鈥淚 am excited for what this new space is going to produce,鈥� said Hope Purcell, a teacher at Foust. 鈥淲ith the continued support from our robotics curriculum, students will have the opportunity to tap into a new world of discovery that will prepare them for the future.鈥�

Many community and education leaders were present at the ribbon cutting, including several county commissioners and Guilford superintendent Whitney Oakley. Oakley shared excitement about the new school and reminded everyone that the leaders who came before her who advocated for the passing of the bond and were open to the vision of a school like Foust were a huge part of making this new school a reality.

鈥淭oday is not just about celebrating a building,鈥� Oakley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about celebrating what this building really represents, and that鈥檚 opportunity and access to the tools of modern K-12 education. It represents the culmination of years of planning and conversation and design to make sure that we can build a space that serves families and students for decades to come. The joy on the faces of the staff and the families and the students is just a reminder that teaching and learning is more effective when everybody has the resources that they need to thrive, and that should not be the exception, that should be the rule.鈥�

Students sometimes need different levels of support and resources in order to thrive. Foust hopes to be a place where all students can succeed. Another school district in New Jersey, the , is using gaming and technology to engage students with cognitive and behavioral differences. They have designed specifically for students with cognitive challenges, like Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is just one example of how gaming can create an inclusive learning environment.

As Foust settles into its brand new building, they are already planning for new opportunities ahead, including partnerships with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University for innovative programming for students and parents.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Part of NYU鈥檚 Tandon School of Engineering, the center offers roughly a dozen summer courses that engage students in advanced STEM research before they graduate from high school. Half of the classes are free 鈥� an effort to reach those underrepresented in STEM fields, such as students of color or youth from low-income families.

Each program provides experience that can鈥檛 be found in the typical classroom, said center director Ben Esner. The courses tap into research that鈥檚 externally funded and managed by NYU undergraduate and graduate students. 

鈥淭here is nobody teaching chemical engineering at a New York City public high school, right? Nobody’s doing protein engineering,鈥� he said. 鈥淜ids get coding experience, software development experience, but even if you’re getting that in school, and even if you go to a top [STEM] high school, it’s still limited in what they’re teaching.鈥�

Over the last five years, the center has served more than 3,000 middle and high school students from around the U.S., Esner said. In 2023, there were more than 2,855 applications for roughly 587 openings, according to the . Just under half of the students took classes for free.

Last year, the number of applications jumped to more than 4,800.

The center used to offer professional development programming at all grade levels, including for elementary teachers, but now it focuses on grades 6 through12.

Students have programmed robots to operate more like humans, analyzed local traffic to make transportation more efficient and experimented with proteins that deliver cancer drugs. last several weeks and include subjects like noise pollution, digital media, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and computer engineering. 

One of the center鈥檚 most popular programs is Applied Research Innovations in Science and Engineering (ARISE). The 10-week, tuition-free course allows high school students to conduct research among university students in NYU professors’ labs.

In 2023, one ARISE lab , and students used stone tools to learn about human history and behavior. Other include researching a link between cerebral spinal fluid and depression in elderly adults and analyzing data-driven cyberattacks.

LuAnn Williams-Moore, the center’s assistant director, said one of her favorite programs is called Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Science of Smart Cities. The free course teaches students how to apply engineering skills like circuitry, electronics and coding to challenges in urban areas 鈥� and how to market the solutions they come up with. Students learn the process of product development, from building their idea to creating pitch presentations for patents and copyrights. At the end of the program, they participate in a Shark Tank-style event and showcase their projects to entrepreneurs.

One product that students helped develop is a sensor network called , which monitors water levels and collects readings . The project received more than $7 million in city funding in 2023.

鈥淎 lot of our programs are about teaching students to think about innovations they want to bring based on the training that we are giving them,鈥� Williams-Moore said. 鈥淥kay, now that we’ve trained you, what smart innovation would you bring to your community? What are the problems you see in your community?鈥�

New York City classroom teachers are also involved. Williams-Moore said the center turned to local educators to help create lesson plans and curriculum for last summer’s programming, and teachers act as program supervisors or evaluate course content. It’s one of the ways, Williams-Moore said, that she tries to keep the center’s courses relevant and up to date with current STEM education practices.

鈥淲e go to conferences. We look at research papers. I鈥檓 thinking about the latest trend, or what’s the latest issue that’s happening or developing in education and what’s happening on the ground in the schools,鈥� she said. 

When sifting through middle school applications, Esner said, the center looks for students with an extreme interest in STEM, as shown through personal essays, teacher recommendations and in-person interviews where candidates complete hands-on activities while being observed by professors. For high schoolers, the center also looks at academic records, extracurricular interests and prerequisite STEM classes.

鈥淲e want students who ask questions,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou’re going to come here and we’re going to teach you this. Why do you want to learn it?鈥�

Esner said it鈥檚 important to expose young people to in-depth STEM education before they graduate from high school because it鈥檚 easy for them to dismiss those fields before they realize what kind of potentially interesting jobs are out there.

鈥淲hen students say, 鈥榃hy do I need to learn this?鈥� Well, you need to learn it because you want to build a robot that helps care for elderly people, or you want to discover a protein that can efficiently deliver a chemotherapy drug to the cells that are damaged,鈥� Esner said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 showing a connection between basic science and math skills and the kinds of fabulous and important things you can do that are socially relevant and personally important to a lot of these young people.鈥�

fall between February and May, depending on the program.

As the oldest daughter of six, Vanessa Tostado always felt pressure from her immigrant parents to succeed in school.

She enrolled in Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto, California, which helps first-generation students enroll and earn a degree. She fostered her passion for STEM by taking science classes and participating in national math competitions. 

But during her sophomore year, Tostado hit a roadblock. Her computer science class became so difficult that she asked her vice principal if she could withdraw. She was one of the few female students enrolled, and though computers were a field she was interested in pursuing after high school, she struggled with assignments while her classmates thrived.

鈥淏efore we could leave class, we would have these sort of exit slips to solve a problem. I just remember this dreadful feeling of, 鈥業 don’t know how to do this. I’m stuck.鈥� And this is your exit ticket to go to lunch and all my peers are leaving,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was really feeling like this is not for me, like I’m just not getting it.鈥�

Tostado credits Technovation, an international tech education nonprofit, for getting her back on track while reinvigorating her passion for STEM. The organization connects girls ages 8 to 18 with mentors who help them learn about coding, artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship in order to create mobile apps that address real-world problems.聽

鈥淚n high school, I had a very fixed mindset of, 鈥業 can’t do it. It’s not for me.鈥� Through the mentorship that I had in Technovation, that really sort of shifted,鈥� Tostado said. 鈥淚t’s not that I can’t do it, I just don’t know how to do it. And I need to figure out what I don’t know how to do, and what questions I need to ask to help me get there.鈥�

Since 2006, Technovation has served more than 150,000 girls around the world, mostly through a free, annual international competition that challenges participants to find a problem in their community and build a mobile or web app to help solve it. 

The organization has a network of chapters that work with mentors, volunteers and parents to help individual girls, or teams of up to five, create their projects over a period of several weeks. Last year, Technovation from 7,500 girls.

Tara Chklovski founded Technovation, formerly named Iridescent, after witnessing the lack of women in STEM fields while working on a doctorate in aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California. It was a stark difference from her bachelor鈥檚 degree program in India, which had equal representation of men and women.

鈥淭here were two or three women in (my) entire Ph.D. program. So then you begin to notice, and you’re like, 鈥榃hy is that?鈥� 鈥� Chklovski said. 鈥淚 think the thing that really surprised me was that women would sort of say with pride, 鈥極h, I don’t do math. I’m bad at math.鈥� And I’m like, 鈥榃hy is that something that you’re saying so proudly?鈥� You don’t say, 鈥業’m bad at reading, I can’t read a book.鈥� I think that was bothering me.鈥�

A new international study from the American Institutes for Research shows that by age 6, kids already perceive boys to be better than girls at computer science and engineering. Among girls, such beliefs only grow more entrenched over time.

Chklovski left her doctorate program to create a nonprofit of her own. She eventually founded Technovation, which began as a school-based STEM program but shifted to serving girls internationally in 2010. The nonprofit launched its global competition in 2012 and has since focused on increasing women’s representation in technology industries, including artificial intelligence.

This year, Technovation formed a collaboration with UNICEF, Google and other companies called the , which provides government agencies and nonprofits around the world with guidance on how to incorporate artificial intelligence education into their own mission and work. 

Technovation is 鈥渃alling upon the world and other countries’ governments to help close the gender gap鈥� in technology and STEM industries,鈥� according to the organization. Chklovski said the alliance鈥檚 goal is to .

In Technovation鈥檚 competition, girls identify issues in their communities, build mobile app prototypes to offer solutions and create business plans, complete with a pitch and video, to be judged. The projects go through a round of semi-finals before the finalists are flown to Silicon Valley to pitch their projects in person.

Tostado hadn鈥檛 heard about Technovation until after her struggles began as a sophomore in 2013. When a mentor at her after-school program proposed that Tostado and some of her friends participate in the competition, she was hooked 鈥� especially after learning that she could help her own community in the process.聽

For three months, working on their own time outside of class, Tostado鈥檚 team focused on creating an app called Tag It, which aims to improve their local neighborhood by notifying residents of graffiti and helping to organize events to clean it up.聽

鈥淭he idea was, essentially, build an app that lets people say, 鈥業 am going to create an event to paint over the graffiti at the public library.鈥� And then, if someone is feeling like they want to volunteer, they can join that,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he idea was getting people to work together to help clean up East Palo Alto.鈥�

Technovation also encourages a focus on climate solutions for project submissions. One girl in India built an app that would tell users their risk of getting lung cancer from air pollution in their community. A team from Argentina created an artificial intelligence app that predicted the chance of wildfires in specific areas.

鈥淭hese young women are still in school, right? They are creating real solutions to solve real problems,鈥� Chklovski said. 鈥淏ut then, as they become alumni and they go into the workforce, they continue with that 鈥� they have that mindset to solve problems.鈥�

The Tag It app ranked among the top 20 projects judged in the Technovation competition that year. While the app didn鈥檛 win the entire challenge, Tostado said the education and mentorship she received from the nonprofit 鈥� which continued throughout her high school career 鈥� helped her rediscover her passion for STEM.

鈥淚’m coming from a place of like, I can’t solve this exit ticket 鈥� and I have to scarf my lunch down my throat to get to my next class 鈥� to this confidence of [being] able to create this app,鈥� Tostado said. 鈥淚 think that mentorship and experience gave me the confidence to continue with my classes in high school and then continue taking classes in undergrad.鈥�

Tostado graduated from Eastside in 2015 and enrolled at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where she earned a bachelor’s in 2019. She then landed a software engineering job at Palo Alto Networks, a multinational cybersecurity firm.聽

Throughout college, Tostado said, she noticed there was still a lack of women in STEM programs. At conferences, she was told she was 鈥渟tepping into something that鈥檚 not the norm.鈥� Tostado is currently the only woman on her team of 10 engineers.

鈥淚 don’t feel like my team treats me any less than, and I feel like my opinions are heard, but I can definitely understand that might not be the norm everywhere,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also one of those things, like, you don’t know what you don’t have until you have it, right? Maybe in the future, I join a team and there’s a woman manager, or there are more women on the team, and I’m like, 鈥榃hoa. This is what I’ve been missing.鈥� 鈥�

Correction: The Eastside College Preparatory School graduate’s last name is Tostado.

The Newark charter school was selected for a free science field trip after another nearby school couldn鈥檛 go. It was May 2012, and middle school teacher Patricia Fartura was in charge of bringing 30 eighth graders to the organization鈥檚 technology center 鈥� a trip she would make an annual event. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 when the journey began. And our students loved it,鈥� Fartura said. 鈥淚t allowed students who would normally not be in that scenario or the situation of seeing what a science lab really looks like to get hands-on experience.鈥� 

Fartura is now the curriculum supervisor at Varisco-Rogers, but its middle schoolers still visit Students 2 Science鈥檚 technology center to conduct multi-day experiments, such as simulating how the digestive system works or testing the energy content in caffeinated drinks.

Varisco-Rogers is one of more than 150 schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that partner with the 15-year-old , sending students three times a year to its technology centers for all-day programs in chemistry, biotechnology, physics and engineering. When students arrive, they are split into research teams and work with scientists to conduct experiments that connect to real-world issues, according to the nonprofit. 

For now, Students 2 Science serves middle and high school students at two centers, located in Newark and East Hanover, New Jersey. But the nonprofit recently of its program to elementary students, especially those in third and fourth grade, with a new 20,000-square-foot technology center near Whippany, New Jersey. It will replace the East Hanover facility in fall 2025.

The nonprofit also provides virtual laboratory lessons for teachers to livestream in their classrooms and a career-exploration program for high schoolers.

Dan Barnett, Student 2 Science鈥檚 chief development officer, said the organization decided to include younger students after hearing from schools that elementary classrooms had a shortage of science teachers.

鈥淭here’s such a lack of science teachers, or teachers that have a science background or can teach science in the elementary levels, especially for our school districts that are in such great need overall for resources,鈥� Barnett said. 鈥淲e worked with consultants to help develop a curriculum that aligned to New Jersey standards for learning and science. And now we are looking for a specialist to lead that program.鈥�

Fartura said the decision to include elementary students will be critical to improving their academic success and trajectory. 

鈥淚 think at a younger age is where we want to get them [interested in STEM], because it’ll just continue to create passion for the subject, especially with all the careers that are out there now 鈥� everything is STEM,鈥� she said.

show that young children begin to lose interest in science, technology, engineering and math as they grow older when they don’t have mentors to encourage them. found that this decline is more common among girls, students from low-income families and children of color.

This school year, Varisco-Rogers began incorporating STEM into its own elementary curriculum. Majority of the school鈥檚 are Hispanic and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. 

Fartura said that so far, she has seen the school’s third and fourth graders become more engaged in their learning when STEM activities are involved.

鈥淭he little ones are 鈥� absorbing everything,鈥� she said. 鈥淏y the time I would get my students in sixth grade 鈥� even 10 years ago, 15 years ago 鈥� if they didn’t have that passion for science, it was so difficult for me to try to kind of push them.鈥�

As Students 2 Science prepares to open its new site, the organization is also reimagining ways STEM can be taught through its two other programs, Barnett said. 

The V-Lab Program offers virtual laboratory lessons that can be remotely streamed at any school. Classroom teachers are given science materials, and a Students 2 Science instructor teaches a 45- to 50-minute lesson.

There is also a career advancement program that offers high school students opportunities for training and internships in STEM fields.

鈥淲e are really focused on exposure, making sure students know what options are out there, especially in the state of New Jersey,鈥� Barnett said. 鈥淲e recognize that for the communities that we serve, the students don’t necessarily get exposed to all of those opportunities, so that’s really what the focus of that program is, and that’s going to, I think, make a greater impact.鈥�

About 90% of Students 2 Science participants are students of color, and 52% are female, according to the nonprofit. Since its inception in 2009, the organization has served more than 250,000 students.

One former student, Nomase Iyamu, said his participation in 2015 led him to a career in pharmaceuticals. He began at Students 2 Science as a sophomore at Bard High School Early College, which is part of Newark Public Schools, interned there as a college student and helped create the V-Lab Program. 

Imayu said Students 2 Science allowed him to make mistakes while experimenting with science and technology in high school. That opportunity sparked his interest in the pharmaceutical field, which eventually led him to enroll in business school to create his own pharmaceutical startup company.

鈥淚t took STEM for me to become an entrepreneur, so it may take STEM for someone to do something else that they’re actually passionate about,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 definitely see Students 2 Science as a very strong stepping stone to any career path that you want to have. I would definitely not be here without them.鈥�

A University of Washington professor received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work designing new proteins, the building blocks of life.

David Baker, professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine and director of the school鈥檚 Institute for Protein Design, received the prize for computational protein design, along with Demis Hassabis and John Jumper of Google DeepMind, whose work with artificial intelligence helps predict the shape of proteins.

Their work could help accelerate the creation of new medicines and vaccines, expand abilities to break down things like plastic and other pollutants, or open opportunities to build new materials altogether.

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鈥淧roteins solve all of the problems that living things have to deal with,鈥� Baker told reporters on Wednesday. 鈥淪o if you can make new proteins, you can potentially solve a lot of current problems for which there aren鈥檛 proteins to deal with.鈥�

Baker, 62, is the eighth University of Washington faculty member and the sixth School of Medicine faculty member to receive the Nobel Prize.

Designing new proteins was always a 鈥渃razy idea鈥� 鈥� one scientists have been trying to crack for decades, Baker said.

His work eventually led him to create computer software that analyzes information about existing proteins in order to build new ones. That software, along with the use of Hassabis鈥� and Jumper鈥檚 artificial intelligence tools that predict protein structure, could help scientists more quickly and accurately understand and construct proteins.

鈥淒avid and his team really contributed and led the cracking of the code to protein structure, how amino acid chains fold together in a three-dimensional structure to be the building blocks of life,鈥� said Dr. Timothy Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the UW School of Medicine.

Proteins from Baker鈥檚 lab have already contributed to the development of , , and a medication for celiac disease.

University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce called Baker鈥檚 work 鈥渁 truly visionary approach to protein science.鈥�

鈥淭his is as good as it gets,鈥� she told reporters Wednesday. 鈥淭his is about taking these great basic science ideas and pushing them out so that they make a difference in the world.鈥�

Baker grew up in Seattle, and his parents were both faculty members at the university. He completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University in 1984 and earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. He joined the faculty at UW鈥檚 Department of Biochemistry in 1993.

For Baker, his work is just beginning. Now that his lab has figured out how to design new proteins, Baker said they will continue to experiment more with how to use them. For example, he and his students are looking at ways to block snake venom in the body, improve the efficiency of photosynthesis, or remove toxic tissue from the bloodstream.

He praised the university as an 鈥渁bsolutely wonderful place to do science.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e been here for a long time and never thought for a nanosecond about leaving,鈥� Baker said.

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According to a survey of more than 3,000 teachers conducted by AdoptAClassroom.org, a nonprofit crowdfunding platform, teachers received a median classroom school supply budget of $200 last school year 鈥� an amount that 93% of the respondents said was not enough to cover their in-class needs.

Many teachers choose to subsidize the remainder of the costs, but it comes at a steep price. Out-of-pocket spending among teachers has increased by 44% since 2015, the survey found, with teachers reporting that they spent an average of $860 of their own money on supplies and other expenses during the 2022-2023 school year.

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鈥淭eachers spend their classroom supply budget fast,鈥� Melissa Hruza, Vice President, Marketing & Development at AdoptAClassroom.org, told 社区黑料. 鈥淓ven though they are willing to provide basic items like food and supplies for their students, their ability to pay for it is decreasing.鈥�

One big reason: teacher pay has failed to keep up with the sky high rate of inflation in recent years. Adjusted for inflation, teachers are making $3,644 less than they did a decade ago, according to the National Education Association.

Communities and parents appear to be recognizing the challenges teachers face. AdoptAClassroom.org said its site has received more donations to teachers for the 2024-2025 back-to-school season than last year.

鈥淐omparing July and August 2024 to the same period in 2023, the number of contributions to educators on AdoptAClassroom.org is currently up 13% from 2023 to 2024 so far this year,鈥� Hruza said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also been a 9% increase in the number of both new fundraisers and total number of teachers with active campaigns.鈥�

GoFundMe has seen a similar bump. So far this year, more than $12 million has been raised for K-12 education on the crowdfunding platform. In 2023, total funds raised for educators reached over $24 million 鈥� a 7% increase from the previous year.

鈥淸P]eople don鈥檛 always see the hidden costs that end up on teachers鈥� hands, like providing additional resources for students who can鈥檛 afford small items like pencils,鈥� Shawn An, a first-year earth and environmental science teacher at Julius L. Chambers High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, told 社区黑料.

To ensure he and his students were fully prepared for this school year, An launched a GoFundMe campaign called A Classroom for Future Scientists, with a goal to raise $1,000. He ended up receiving $1,045 in donations.

鈥淲hat this funding created is the opportunity for me to bring the basic necessities into the classroom I need to succeed, like organizers and writing utensils to grade with,鈥� An said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 helped me create a space where I can be efficient and to find resources for students to engage in the work we’re asking them to do.鈥�

Lightening the load

To help teachers afford the supplies they need, GoFundMe launched its own fundraising initiative called the Education Opportunity Fund. Since the fund鈥檚 launch in 2020, GoFundMe has raised more than $240,000 and has distributed more than 550 grants to teachers in order to help them afford classroom supplies and other educational resources, Leigh Lehman, GoFundMe director of communications, told 社区黑料.

鈥淭he grants were an additional step to offer help to educators and lighten their load a bit, and there are still grants available for teachers who are in need,鈥� Lehman said.

Grants of can be put toward common classroom items like school supplies, books and class decorations. Funds can also be used for other educational resources or items like field trips, playground equipment, updated technology and extracurricular activities.

Similar to GoFundMe’s grant initiative, AdoptAClassroom.org provides funding through their Spotlight Fund Grants program. This program targets classroom initiatives that address things like social-emotional wellness, Indigenous language, arts, STEM education and racial equity. Eligible teachers can apply for grants of $750 or more on AdoptAClassroom.org.

鈥淧eople all around the country want to find ways to help more teachers,鈥� GoFundMe鈥檚 Lehman said. 鈥淭hey understand there is a gap in funding and that teachers are incredibly stressed.鈥�

Keeping kids engaged

Hana Syed Khan, a fourth grade teacher in New Jersey鈥檚 South River Public Schools district, started her own GoFundMe campaign, A Classroom Built on Kindness, in August to support her efforts to make her classroom 鈥渁s useful, accessible and hands-on as possible.鈥�

Entering her fifth year of teaching at a new school in a new district, Syed Khan knew she had to be more creative with the amount of classroom space she has, materials needed and the resources available.

Her campaign raised $1,920 in funds, which she used to purchase a spin-the-wheel device, a carpet for reading time, books for the classroom library and the classroom staple Better Than Paper.

鈥淭he [kids] want to touch everything, and they should be able to. It鈥檚 their room,鈥� Syed Khan told 社区黑料.

Through sharing via family group chats, her husband鈥檚 LinkedIn account, word-of-mouth and other social media platforms, like and , Syed Khan said she 鈥渇eels fortunate to have set up the fundraiser and leverage community support for her classroom.鈥�

She plans to keep her fundraiser open to donations so she can continue to afford classroom activities and incentives with hopes to keep students engaged through the year.

鈥淪tudents in this district suffer from chronic absenteeism, which may stem from lack of transportation, parents鈥� schedule or a lack of motivation for themselves,鈥� Syed Khan said. 鈥淐lassroom incentives, like parties at the end of the month, are a really big part of what I want to use the funds for next.鈥�

Drawing from his own school experience, An said he understands that many of his students face challenges outside of the classroom. Bringing smaller tools and supplies like writing utensils and paper to class is not the first thing on their mind.

鈥淭hat can be a real barrier for students to access what teachers are asking them to do,鈥� An said. 鈥淯sing the donations to directly address those barriers helps students stay engaged to do their best in the classroom.鈥�

He used a portion of the donations he has raised to purchase a rolling cart that allows for easy access to classroom supplies.

An and Syed Khan hope their efforts inspire other teachers to overcome the fear of asking for help. For Syed Khan, it was difficult to find the right words for the campaign and the video she included to go along with it. She wanted to ensure her classroom needs were as clear as possible to potential donors.

鈥淭rying to figure out what to say to grab people鈥檚 attention was the most challenging part,鈥� Syed Khan said.

鈥淚t definitely wasn鈥檛 easy,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when people see someone speaking and explaining what the funds will be used for, it can attract many people because they see a real human.鈥�

An experienced similar doubts about asking for help. He credits his family for providing feedback on his campaign narrative and helping him to frame his message.

鈥淢y family and I went through a co-writing process to get the point across that this was me, just as a person, asking a personal favor of people who were available,鈥� An said.

GoFundMe currently hosts webinars for educators and education-related organizations to help them learn how to effectively fundraise. They鈥檝e also updated their with tips for teachers to share their campaign and keep communities engaged.

鈥淪eeing more teachers turn to external sources of funding to help support their students鈥� needs is definitely eye-opening,鈥� An said. 鈥淚t highlights the fact that not as much care is funneled into education as I think it should be.鈥�

Solving chronic absenteeism involves tackling big structural problems like transportation and infrastructure. But we also have to make our schools places where young people want to learn. Too many teens, in particular, had negative feelings about school even before the pandemic. Yale researchers conducting found most teens spent their days 鈥渢ired,鈥� 鈥渟tressed,鈥� and 鈥渂ored.鈥� Fewer than 3 in 100 reported feeling interested while in school.

Decades of research prove that students learn more when they experience high levels of academic engagement and social belonging in school. That鈥檚 why XQ developed grounded in the science of teaching and the importance of cultivating caring, trusting relationships within schools. These principles are being used to rethink the traditional high school experience in across the country to make learning more relevant and engaging for the needs of this generation.

Our partnerships are still new. But so far, we鈥檙e finding graduates from our first 17 schools have more interest in their classes and a stronger sense of belonging at school than their national counterparts. More than three-quarters of the XQ class of 2023 鈥� which includes 17 high schools 鈥� said they were at least somewhat interested in their classes. And 52% of the XQ class of 2023 felt like they belonged 鈥渃ompletely鈥� or 鈥渜uite a bit鈥� at their school, versus only 40% nationally.

I spoke with four students from XQ schools across the country to hear what makes a difference in creating high schools young people want to attend. They are: Evan Bowie, Class of 2024 from Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in Washington, D.C.; Karisse Dickison, Class of 2024 from Elizabethton High School in Elizabethton, Tennessee; Henry Montalvo, Class of 2025 from 颁铆谤肠耻濒辞蝉 in Santa Ana, California; and Lillian Roberts, Class of 2024 from Brooklyn STEAM Center. 

Create Bonding Activities

has fewer than 200 students, but Henry Montalvo didn鈥檛 know most of them when he started there as a ninth grader. That small size helped him adjust to the Santa Ana high school, but he also credited bonding activities. One called Community Week provides an opportunity for students to celebrate, pause and reflect. Students create their own schedules based on available sessions. Montalvo said they may lead the sessions alone or partner with teachers for non-academic, fun classes on topics like putting on a thrift shop and even Pok茅mon card-collecting.

鈥淚t’s just basically a time to come together as a community,鈥� he said of the most recent event this past spring. 鈥淪ometimes you write a letter to yourself, and then they give it to you at the end of the year so you can reflect on it.鈥� 

Evan Bowie said teachers at , an all-male district school in Washington, D.C. that鈥檚 part of the partnership, also look for creative ways to help students bond. Students might be asked, for example, to stand or move their desks into circles and answer a question like, 鈥淲hat’s your affirmation today?鈥� Or, 鈥淗ow was your weekend?鈥� He said sometimes it can feel like you鈥檙e being put on the spot, but it works.

Bowie said if he answered with, 鈥溾�業t was boring.鈥� They’d be, like, 鈥榊ou got to give a real answer.鈥欌�� The upshot: 鈥淚t just pushes the student to think a little bit better.鈥�

Want to learn more about how to create innovative teaching and learning in high schools? Subscribe to the , a newsletter that comes out twice a month for high school teachers.

Seek Student Feedback

Check-ins like this can also happen more formally, as they do at the The program takes students from several local high schools for mornings or afternoons, five days a week, offering them concentrations in career pathways including cybersecurity, design and engineering, filmmaking and more. Brooklyn STEAM Center is in the Imagine NYC

Lillian Roberts chose culinary arts as her concentration. She enjoys how teachers meet with students quarterly. She said they ask how students feel about their classes, which includes 鈥渢he way they’re teaching, if you have any input.鈥� There are also student-led town hall meetings where students can give feedback anonymously on 鈥渢hings that you might not feel comfortable with.鈥�

Bowie said his teachers at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School also solicit feedback on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on the instructor. They鈥檒l ask questions like, 鈥淲hat went well this week? What can I improve on? What ways can you improve your grade?鈥� Bowie said students are also asked to rate the classes on a scale of one to five stars and provide suggestions for how to make a class better, such as including more hands-on activities or more Socratic seminars instead of written assignments.

Make Personal Connections

is located in northeast Tennessee, an area that has struggled for years with the loss of manufacturing and the opioid epidemic. It was selected as an XQ Super School largely because of its teens鈥� proposal for more student-centered learning to benefit the community.

Karisse Dickison, who graduated this year and is heading to college, described a close relationship with school librarian Dustin Hensley 鈥� who regularly talks to students about what they鈥檙e reading and their extracurricular activities. When Dickison helped start a group dedicated to ending gun violence, she said Hensley would ask her about related events in the news.

鈥淚t was just nice to have him reach out and make sure that I knew what was happening in the world,鈥� she said.

Bowie also valued a personal connection with English teacher Teresa Lasley, who encouraged him to apply to Georgetown University, where he鈥檚 attending this fall. He recalled her showing the class a video about how Black students didn鈥檛 feel welcome at the prestigious school. When he spoke with Lasley, he said she told him he doesn鈥檛 have to work extra hard to prove he belongs. 鈥淕oing to Georgetown means you’re adding more to Georgetown,鈥� he remembered her saying. 鈥淚t’s better for them than it is for you. You belong. You already have it in you.鈥�

He said that exchange allowed him to 鈥渂e seen,鈥� and that he鈥檚 witnessed similar exchanges between other students and teachers.

At Brooklyn STEAM Center, Roberts recalled one guidance counselor who reached out after he saw her crying. 鈥淎nd then we set up weekly meetings just to have someplace to talk about what’s happening,鈥� she said. But at her other high school, she thought guidance counselors seem to focus more on 鈥減urely more academic things.鈥�

Leave the Building

Students at all four schools experience internships, work-based learning and partnerships with community organizations, which they said make classwork feel more relevant. 

Montalvo said teachers at 颁铆谤肠耻濒辞蝉 helped him land internships at a congressional campaign and with a law firm. He said these outside experiences lead to presentations in class. At Brooklyn STEAM Center, Roberts earned an OSHA 10 as well as a New York Food Protection Certificate, and joined a class trip to Italy to study cuisine. 

Dickison worked on social media and advertising at a local nonprofit. Some classes at Elizabethton High include project-based learning, such as one in which students helped solve a cold case involving a serial killer (their work became the subject of the hit podcast this year). 颁铆谤肠耻濒辞蝉 also offers , which Montalvo said makes classes feel more interesting. In his first year, he recalled how he and another student in his English class interviewed local environmental justice experts about lead contamination and the lack of green space, then made a presentation to their school and invited the greater community.

All three students who graduated this year are going to college in the fall, and Montalvo plans to go to college after graduating next year; he wants to be a lawyer. In our senior survey, 72% of XQ students in the class of 2023 planned to attend college, illustrating a great example of students remaining engaged in school beyond their high school years. 

But a sense of belonging and engagement can only happen with student input. 鈥淪chool is about 鈥�飞颈迟丑鈥� not 鈥�蹿辞谤,鈥�鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淓verything is with the students. It鈥檚 not for the students. You have to do everything with the students in mind.鈥�

Disclosure: is a financial supporter of 社区黑料.

Turns out the perception is more true of math than science.

Senior Pew researcher Brian Kennedy put those STEM performance beliefs into context by looking at the most recent results from PISA, an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics and science literacy in the U.S. and other industrialized nations. The U.S. is indeed lagging behind in math, his research shows, but is performing 鈥� if not the best in the world 鈥� better than average in science.

In math, U.S. students ranked 28th out of 37 countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a ranking similar to the last time the test was administered in 2018, despite an alarming 13-point drop on the exam post-pandemic. In science, however, the U.S. ranked 12th out of 37 OECD countries, following a 3-point drop in scores. In both subjects, the average U.S. score was within 15 points of international averages. 

鈥淏roadly, we鈥檙e interested in where science interacts with society 鈥� where those touchpoints are,鈥� Kennedy told 社区黑料, 鈥渁nd one place is through STEM education. People experience STEM education in their own lives or they experience it through their children鈥檚 lives. So we think it鈥檚 important to get an understanding of how the public rates STEM education in this country.鈥�

Pew Research Center surveyed 10,133 U.S. adults from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11 this year using the Center鈥檚 American Trends Panel, an online survey panel. Kennedy noted that the findings are largely consistent with societal perceptions going back about a decade, based on by the research center. 

This year鈥檚 numbers remain mostly consistent across the political spectrum, but diverge when broken down by race, with white respondents showing the most pessimism. They were the least likely (24%) to think K-12 STEM education in the U.S. is the best or above average, behind Black respondents (31%), Hispanic respondents (37%) and Asian respondents (43%).

And fewer women (25%) than men (32%) say K-12 STEM education is at least above average, a difference Tom Jenkins, a middle school science teacher in Ohio, attributed to the historic lack of representation of women in science and math curriculum.

Jenkins, a 25-year veteran teacher in low-income urban and rural settings, also spoke to why American students may be scoring better in science than math. 

鈥淏ased on my experience with this [as an educator] 鈥� and also being a product of an inner-city school that was first-generation college and lower-socioeconomic myself 鈥� I really think a lot of it has to do with the way that we teach math and the way we teach science and how there鈥檚 different expectations for both subjects,鈥� he said.

Historically, there鈥檚 an expectation in science classes that students will be highly engaged with hands-on, experiential learning that鈥檚 connected to real-world issues, he said, adding that those same expectations don鈥檛 necessarily exist in math classes. This is 鈥渦nfortunate because there are so many teachable things [in math] that we could use in a hands-on, practical way that’s culturally relevant, that鈥檚 project-based.鈥�

Amid precipitously declining math scores post-pandemic, Jenkins is not alone in his urgent call for a shift in the way math is taught. 

It鈥檚 important when students walk into his 鈥� and all 鈥� classrooms, he said, that they know they鈥檒l be learning skills that are going to help them not only better understand the academic content but also prepare them for a wide variety of careers. 

鈥淚f we really want to have an impact in math and science and STEM subjects,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd we want to get it to stick with our lower-socioeconomic or traditionally under-represented groups in STEM, then we really need to make it have some relevance.鈥� 

In reflecting on American students鈥� PISA performances he added, 鈥淚 do think that while [the] middle is not the worst 鈥� I do think it鈥檚 very important that we understand that while this acknowledges that we鈥檙e doing well 鈥� we still have a long way to go and we have a lot of disenfranchised groups or historically underrepresented groups that we鈥檙e not鈥� impacting well enough in STEM subjects.鈥� 

Education advocate Talia Milgrom-Elcott echoed this point, noting there鈥檚 no reason American students should be in the middle of the pack. Milgrom-Elcott is the founder and executive director of Beyond 100K, a national network focused on ending the STEM teacher shortage with a particular focus on Black, Latino and Indigenous communities.

She also noted that average scores often mask disparities, which is especially true in STEM.

鈥淎 lot of us have an outdated 鈥� what should be an outdated 鈥� idea about STEM that only some people are good at it, that only some people will ever excel in it, and often that they look a certain way 鈥� are a certain gender, race, income level, etc. And so there’s something in our gut that鈥檚 not activated when we see a lot of kids at the bottom.鈥� 

She said that if the U.S. hopes to move up in the ratings, there must be a commitment to eradicating these disparities.

鈥淎nd 鈥榰p in the rating,鈥� by the way, is not in itself a goal,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 only a goal because being competitive in math and science 鈥� having more kids having those classes and that knowledge and those opportunities 鈥� is going to drive social mobility, economic mobility. It鈥檚 going to drive global competitiveness. It鈥檚 going to help the United States continue to be an innovation factory to solve the most pressing challenges.鈥�

A student in an elementary school drops an egg wrapped tightly in paper straws and tape to test whether it can survive a high fall. Next door, students engineer a solar oven out of pizza boxes, construction paper and aluminum foil. In another classroom, students construct a 鈥渂iosphere鈥� using foam balls, fake grass and dollhouses.

These and similar scenes from public schools around the country are more than just young learners having fun with recycled materials. This is STEM education in action: Hands-on projects help students develop critical thinking skills while sparking interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

Research shows that  provides them with a foundation to enter many STEM-related careers: as doctors, chemists, geologists, computer scientists and many more.

Introducing these fields in elementary school helps capture students鈥� imaginations and kindle their interest in STEM. Besides the fun, these hands-on learning experiences foster a mindset that embraces innovation, experimentation and collaboration. That foundation will support this generation throughout their lives as they face an increasingly complex, interconnected world.

STEM careers are among the nation鈥檚  jobs. Early exposure to STEM education primes students to take advantage of these career opportunities 鈥� and the economic benefits that come with them. Without it, we risk perpetuating an exclusionary cycle that alienates underrepresented communities from STEM careers and fuels lifelong opportunity gaps.

As parents have become more involved in their children鈥檚 education, they deserve to know how and where STEM is coming to life in their schools 鈥� and, more importantly, how to make sure that their children can take advantage of opportunities.

This is especially important now, as inconsistent and inequitable access to these subjects continues to reinforce representation gaps in STEM careers. In today鈥檚 STEM workforce, Black and Hispanic adults represent  of the field, respectively. of STEM workers, they are overrepresented in health-related occupations compared to other areas like engineering and architecture.

We can reduce representation gaps in STEM and prepare more students to join the STEM-related workforce 鈥� but we have to start young. Students need opportunities to develop the critical thinking skills that will allow them to succeed in these fields.

That鈥檚 why , the nonprofit school information site that helps parents navigate education,  with  (PLTW), a nonprofit organization that encourages STEM-based careers for students through hands-on, project-based learning starting in pre-K.

Because of this new partnership, parents can now see whether a school offers STEM when browsing GreatSchools profiles. Families looking to specifically prioritize STEM programs in their school search can use GreatSchools鈥� enhanced search tool to display only schools offering these courses.

We believe that providing this information to families 鈥� especially those whose identities are underrepresented in STEM careers 鈥� will allow them to take advantage of these programs early on, potentially changing the trajectory of their child鈥檚 academic and professional lives.

Furthermore, in the wake of the pandemic, parents are , not just better. It鈥檚 not enough just to聽improve聽our schools 鈥� we also need to聽change聽the playbook from which they鈥檝e been operating for decades.

It鈥檚 time to meet this moment with action. Here are some ideas I believe education leaders can and should be pursuing in terms of STEM:

• Make sure teachers have adequate resources. In addition to proper training, teachers need technological equipment 鈥� computers, internet access and software 鈥� to effectively teach STEM classes.
• Adopt a curriculum that exposes students to STEM early on. Infusing elementary school curricula with topics and skill development aligned with STEM careers opens students鈥� minds to a world of possibilities.
• Create mentoring programs that center underrepresented STEM professionals. Mentors can play a significant role in shaping students鈥� career trajectories by exposing them to different fields while helping them reach their goals. Giving students the opportunity to connect with professional STEM mentors 鈥� particularly Black, Hispanic and female mentors 鈥� can help them see themselves in those careers.

Now is our chance to reimagine public education to more equitably serve all students. Exposing students to STEM early in their education is a crucial investment for students, their families and society. Collectively, we all reap the benefits of a diverse, rich workforce representative of the best in our communities.

And yes, we can simply start with a pizza box, paper and foil.

 is chief executive officer of , a national education nonprofit that supports parents through every stage of their child鈥檚 education. He has more than two decades of experience in K-12 education, previously serving as a math teacher and school administrator.

This story about  was produced by , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

The , which opened its doors in 2020 鈥� during the height of the pandemic 鈥� is the nation鈥檚 only high school focused on the integration of cyber technology and engineering into all academic disciplines. It is located in Huntsville, home to the Army Aviation and Missile Command and several major defense contractors.

A publicly funded commuter and residential 9-12 magnet school serving students from around the state, the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering offers free tuition for a diverse student body that is about 30% African American and 37% female. Some 120 of the 333 students live in the school’s dormitory. Students are charged only for the cost of food, which they split with the state. Local contractors help sponsor the school through donations.

The school is both college preparatory and vocational 鈥� aimed at readying students for well-paying careers upon graduation in high-demand, science-based fields, with the Department of Defense and with military contractors.

Underpinning the school鈥檚 focus is the urgent need for more American citizens to enter the national security workforce, because the country is falling behind technologically in several areas and U.S. citizenship is required to receive a security clearance.

The need is substantial. While China has four times the U.S. population, it has eight times as many STEM grads, and Russia has almost four times more engineers than the United States. And the problem will only get more pronounced as the need grows for a workforce that can develop new and increasingly complicated technologies that will be essential for national security.

鈥淢any of the proposed advanced manufacturing and technology solutions to workforce shortages (particularly automation) and manufacturing issues (including additive manufacturing, hybrid manufacturing and digitalization) require a higher level of baseline skills. To implement these solutions, individuals must be trained and able to work in teams that combine deep engineering expertise with data analytics and policy knowledge to enable innovation and transform the manufacturing space,鈥� the Department of Defense wrote in its on U.S. industrial capabilities.

STEM curricula focused on technical careers 鈥渕ust also be expanded into middle and high school education to attract and prepare candidates for advanced manufacturing at all levels 鈥� from engineering to the factory floor,鈥� the report said.

That鈥檚 exactly what the Alabama school is accomplishing.

During its first year, in 2020, the school had 70 students set up in classroom space at a local university. By the following year, enrollment had doubled. When the current school year started in August, the headcount was 333 students, with more expected in successive years as word spreads about the school鈥檚 focus and unique approach to education.

No formal entrance exam is required. Prospective students provide three years’ worth of academic transcripts, attendance sheets and disciplinary records, as well as recommendations from a current STEM teacher and another from a guidance counselor. They submit letters of interest from themselves and their parent.

Applicants from home schools or private schools additionally must provide results from a standardized assessment, such as the SSAT. But there is no minimum qualifying score for admission. Scores are one of many evaluation criteria and are meant to provide insight into the academic potential of incoming applicants. Students who advance in the application process also undergo a personal interview.

Once admitted, students are not allowed to fail their classes. Rather, they must master concepts to advance; they must repeat the class until they achieve proficiency. Proficiency is particularly important because higher-level math and science classes, with their keen focus on cyber technology and engineering, build on concepts from earlier courses. The school doesn鈥檛 use a traditional grading system; rather, teachers rate students on a continuum reflecting various levels of mastery of concepts, then correlate those to a 4.0 grade-point scale.

Students receive four years of instruction in math, science, language arts and social studies, but with cyber and engineering curriculum woven throughout. So, for example, in the first year of social studies, students are taught the history of engineering and technology. The second year is the history of cryptography taught through the lens of world events, such as World Wars I and II. By the third year, students are taught civics and economics, touching on cyber-related concepts like cryptocurrency and blockchain.

They engage in real-world learning through internships with defense companies such as Raytheon, a major corporate sponsor, which accepted 16 students from the school as interns this year.

Tailoring the education for high-tech industries and ensuring proficiency in concepts all along the way ensures that students are math and science literate but also well-rounded. Thus far, the results are impressive. Some students are receiving job offers upon graduation, while others have been accepted at top-notch schools like Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, the University of Texas, Georgetown University, American University and the University of Southern California.

The nation is facing a sweeping talent gap in STEM that is a national security vulnerability. Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering offers one powerful model for closing that gap while driving student achievement.

The world is dependent on innovations, systems and equipment that are designed and sustained using science, engineering, technology and mathematics. This means the nurturing of STEM talent cannot be reserved for a slice of our student population but, instead, an essential component of every student鈥檚 educational journey.

It turns out, industry agrees.

Our colleagues in the community report the need for curious and creative professionals who can work in teams to solve the toughest problems encountered in the fabs and labs of our most advanced workplaces.

Because innovation is happening at a quickening pace, readying students through the curriculum for every workplace scenario will be impossible. The ability to design solutions from scratch, in real time, is necessary to the innovation enterprise.

Whether this is perceived as an issue of equity or economics, the goal is the same: To value STEM knowledge in the same way we value reading.

K-12 needs to be rethought and redesigned or it will not only fail to meet the needs of a STEM-dependent world, it will fail to meet the needs of a unique generation of students who learns, thinks and engages with the world around them differently than any before.

Millennial and Gen Z parents are tech-integrated and experience-driven. Their children are hard-wired to be the same. Practically, this means they innately use technology to learn anytime, anywhere. But it also means they want to learn by doing. They consider technology their guide but want in-person engagement for connection, collaboration and support.

These were the trends and challenges we had to consider when designing . ASU Prep is a P-20 system of schools and educational services embedded in a larger learning enterprise at Arizona State University. The needs and preferences of our student body is what drives our iterative design. Students become masters in various learning domains from home, at a K-12 campus, on a university campus, at their parent鈥檚 workplace or even with peers at a coffee shop.

Thanks to the innovative K-12 policy environment in Arizona, students who can do a day鈥檚 worth of school work in less time can fill the remaining hours getting ahead in courses, catching up on concepts where they struggle, working, pursuing an interest in music, theater, Olympic sport or even launching their own small business.

Online learning should not be remote from people. We pair students with Learning Success Coaches to help students build personalized educational pathways into their desired future career. From kindergarten on, ASU Prep students build their own learning plans in concert with a guide and present it to their parents.

Our students are exposed to ASU courses as soon as they are ready and can take any of the 4,000-plus courses on the ASU catalog: in person, online or through our . High school students at ASU Prep are applying their learning via paid internships and hybrid high school/university schedules.

It鈥檚 working. With graduation and college-going rates that exceed the averages and large numbers of students matriculating to STEM careers, we believe that we are the school system of the future. As part of , ASU Prep is wired like no other K12 system in the country and is poised to design and open access to a K12 model fit for the future of work. 

We do all these things not to simply grow enrollment but to develop a knowledge base of what works to share with the broader community and the ASU teams that are increasing university enrollment in underrepresented communities.

Stakes are high for both our country and the families striving within. We embrace the efforts laid out in the New Essential Education Discoveries (NEED) Act to evaluate what is happening right now in the most innovative systems in the United States and apply those lessons rapidly for the benefit of all students.

There is brilliance in every household. We believe it’s our job to design new educational models that value curiosity and show every student that they do, in fact, have a path to a successful future.

Ever since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957, America has been struggling to recruit and retain STEM teachers in its public middle and high schools.

In the 2017-2018 school year, . At the middle school level, there were about .

The situation has been getting or so. For instance, in the 2011-2012 school year, 19% of public schools were unable to fill a teaching position for biology or life sciences. By the 2020-2021 school year, that number had grown to 31%. The situation was similar for other subjects, going from 19% to 32% for mathematics, and 26% to 47% for physical sciences, such as physics, geology and engineering.

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Science shortages were a problem even before Sputnik, but the launch served as a wake-up call. Three months afterward, President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated during his that federal action was necessary to educate more science and mathematics teachers.

As a 鈥� and also as a 鈥� I have examined the STEM teacher shortage from multiple vantage points. In a September 2023 policy paper, a colleague and I recommend that in order to solve America鈥檚 STEM educator shortage, elected officials and education leaders should .

We think endowed chairs have the potential to retain and attract more STEM educators at the K-12 level, but it requires a willingness to rethink the ways that schools employ STEM educators.

What鈥檚 behind the gap?

Two factors contribute to so many unfilled vacancies in STEM education:

1. There are fewer college students graduating with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in education that ever before.

Between 1959-1976, bachelor鈥檚 degrees in education were the in the United States, and they accounted for about 20% of all degrees. Between 1975-2021, the percentage of students majoring in education .

2. STEM graduates can earn more money outside of education.

When STEM majors go into a STEM career, . When STEM graduates become a math, computer science or science teacher, they will earn, on average, .

This salary gap between STEM professionals and STEM educators is what is known as the STEM teacher 鈥�.鈥�

According to a national survey of teacher salaries in 2017-18, , regardless of years of experience.

But this only tells a portion of the STEM teacher salary story. In 2021, 鈥� about $660 less than the $2,009 earned weekly by other college graduates.

Prior efforts to close the gap

Since developing a strong STEM workforce is vital to the nation鈥檚 security and economic well-being, several U.S. presidents have used their position to advance a STEM education agenda.

For example, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, Eisenhower
and Congress that the nation needed to focus on what takes place in the classroom space 鈥� not just outer space.

The Senate and House passed the , and Eisenhower signed it into law on Sept. 2, 1958.

This set in motion a for American colleges and K-12 schools for decades to come.

Fifty-three years later, President Barack Obama utilized his to advance the national STEM agenda. 鈥淭his is our generation鈥檚 Sputnik moment,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd over the next 10 years, with so many baby boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science and technology and engineering and math.鈥�

Through the leadership of 100Kin10, now named , the initiative .

But the was to narrow the gap, not end it.

A shortage of STEM teachers remains. According to a survey of 53 states and territories, 39 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands had , STEM disciplines included, as of Feb 9, 2023. One additional reason for the current shortage is that public schools 鈥� 233,000 instructors 鈥� between 2019-2021, which included STEM teachers.

Currently, President Joe Biden is , the Department of Education has dedicated , and the National Science Foundation is .

The endowed chair as a potential solution

Federal investments in programs and fellowships to produce more STEM teachers are good. But those alone will not be enough to retain and attract the quality STEM educators we need.

That鈥檚 why a colleague and I for K-12 educators.

Traditionally, an endowed chair is a funded through annual spending from a university鈥檚 endowment fund.

The interest earned on the endowment will partially or fully fund the salary of the position for as long as the university exists. Endowed chairs are .

The benefit of an endowed chair is that it will be paid for decades to come by the interest on investment. In our paper, we suggest that K-12 schools could use endowed chairs to support a K-12 STEM teacher鈥檚 salary, benefits and professional development, all the while saving money for the district and state.

If structured right, the interest on the endowment will pay a teacher鈥檚 salary and benefits, something the district would subsequently not have to pay. The endowment can be used to purchase STEM supplies. The money saved by the district can be used to invest in another teacher. The money could come from private individuals, corporations or foundations.

An endowed chair could also provide funding for teachers and students to have access to state-of-the-art learning technology. As part of the endowed chair contract, a teacher can participate in a fully paid externship at a STEM-focused public or private sector company during the summer months. The goal would be to bring to the classroom the experiences and insights the teacher learned from the externship.

An endowed STEM chair salary may never outpace what educators could earn if they entered the private market. But it can potentially help elevate their position and, perhaps, enable educators to make a salary that would be higher than what it would otherwise be.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

That is because the country is at the start of a massive effort intended to bring semiconductor manufacturing to the Southwest, battery research and development to rural upstate New York and more. It鈥檚 an effort that promises to spread good-paying jobs to parts of the country that haven鈥檛 benefited from them in recent decades.

More semiconductor manufacturing, more engineering jobs, more tech jobs 鈥� over the next 10 years, these and other jobs in STEM fields are faster than all others combined, with twice the median salary. More STEM jobs means the country needs more STEM-ready students, and that means helping elementary schools engage children with a rich and energetic brand of science before sixth grade, when children often start forming career aspirations.

This is particularly critical in rural areas, because if children in these communities don鈥檛 have a science-rich education, they will be less likely to be interested in or qualified for the STEM jobs coming to their regions. And if that鈥檚 the case, the purpose of locating these jobs there will be undermined, as employers will have to recruit qualified workers from other parts of the nation or world.

Getting young Americans involved in science now in a way that captivates them early in their education will prepare them to fill the STEM jobs of the near future and build the foundation for a strong and prosperous economy.

When children from all backgrounds see themselves as scientists, society reaps the benefits. But researchers estimate this country has missed out on generations of 鈥溾�� because many lack a relevant and relatable science education starting in elementary school, and kids cannot be what they cannot see. 

The found that students in kindergarten to third grade learned science for an average of just 18 minutes a day 鈥� less time than many of them spend on the school bus. The results of that are clear: Only 36% of fourth graders tested as proficient on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress science exam. 

If the new approach to industrial policy and STEM jobs is going to succeed, that has to change. Science education must start early, because children develop their interests and passions early. And it must attract all kids, no matter their backgrounds, resources or experiences.

The way to do that is to move students from learning about science from behind a classroom desk to exploring the world outside and around them 鈥� whether that鈥檚 studying drainage and flooding in an urban area or finding the angle of the sun to determine the best placement of solar panels in a rural community. Children鈥檚 minds come alive to science when they see it in every part of their world. They respond to active learning environments that offer the opportunity to collect data, test and solve problems in real time. The organization I lead, , transforms school grounds into real-world labs. Last year, we brought science to life for 53,000 students and 188 schools in 77 communities, starting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and now extended to historically underserved areas of Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

These take teachers and students out of the classroom and into the outdoors, where they can study the growth of plants or crops, build landforms to gauge erosion by pouring water on it or use plastic bags to find hidden water through leaf transpiration.

Children make the connection between the science they see in their schoolyards and the relevance of it to their own communities. 

As a Mississippi native who now lives, works and parents in Washington, D.C., I know that kids in rural areas grow up, get educated, work and live differently than those in cities or suburbs. High-speed internet, for example, is not a given. Technology and office work are not the norm. Some schools don’t have the that are taken for granted in many parts of the country. Almost 1 in 5 public school students attend a rural school, yet policymakers rarely address rural needs. Nonprofits and social service agencies often fill gaps in urban and suburban areas, but less so for rural schools. Indeed, the most robust voice for rural schools, the Rural School and Community Trust, no longer has an 鈥� a metaphor for the isolating lack of broadband internet or reliable cell service that confronts many rural schools.

For generations, those differences did not affect the nation economically. But now, they matter a lot. Modern society and the modern economy rely more on strong scientific readiness in places like the Southwest and rural upstate New York than ever.

The $80 billion in investments that Congress and President Joe Biden have made are designed to share the wealth of economic growth in every part of the country, not just Silicon Valley, Wall Street and the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Mining that wealth can鈥檛 happen, however, unless every school 鈥� rural, suburban and urban 鈥� has the facilities and a plan to get young children involved in science.

If this new industrial policy is to succeed in making this country economically sound and secure in the wake of the pandemic, engaging all citizens is critical. Making science real and relevant is, in that sense, a national economic security initiative. This opportunity is too crucial to miss.

Indiana鈥檚 influential Chamber of Commerce on Monday released its third long-term economic for the state 鈥� two years ahead of schedule, and as both Indiana and the chamber itself prepare for major leadership changes.

The ambitious vision seeks to advance workforce, education, business climate, infrastructure, quality of place and health initiatives.

鈥淚ndiana Prosperity 2035 is more than just an update to a prior plan. It鈥檚 a new vision with a goal of accelerating the move of Indiana鈥檚 economy to an even greater high,鈥� chamber board chair Paul Perkins said at a virtual news conference Tuesday. He鈥檚 also president of Amatrol Inc., a technical education provider.

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The organization鈥檚 previous plan was set to extend through 2025. But longtime chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar said board and staff members decided to 鈥減ivot鈥� in 2020, during the pandemic-induced 鈥渢remendous upheaval in our economy.鈥�

The 20-page document will guide the chamber鈥檚 advocacy work with policymakers and others, Brinegar said. That includes the state鈥檚 next governor.

Brinegar said his team would ask each declared gubernatorial candidate 鈥渇or the opportunity to go through it with them, to encourage them to embrace it and adopt as much of it as they see fit.鈥� The general election is November 2024.

The 12-year plan also comes with Brinegar himself on the way out. He鈥檚 set to retire in January 2024 after 31 years with the chamber.

Goals run the gamut

Forty policy experts, business leaders and others spent 18 months putting the latest plan together, which focuses on similar pillars as in the past: workforce, education, business climate, infrastructure, quality of place and health.

But Brinegar said the goals within each area had changed.

In workforce, for example: over the last decade, the percentage of Hoosiers with a postsecondary credential rose from 32% to 54%, according to the chamber. Now, the organization wants to aim for 70%.

鈥淚 am optimistic that (even) if we don鈥檛 quite get there, we鈥檙e going to be close and we鈥檙e going to be better served for having had this goal to work towards since 2012, and continuing on into the future,鈥� Brinegar said.

The chamber also hopes to see double the number of Hoosiers with STEM-related postsecondary credentials by 2035, and more with bachelor鈥檚 degrees. It additionally wants the state to keep more college graduates, especially international students with STEM degrees, and to get workforce participation from 63% to 70%.

Higher participation would fill the 100,000 jobs open statewide, Brinegar said.

鈥淭o do this we have to lift up the skills of the folks at the lower end of the education attainment level,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unacceptable to have 60% of our high school dropouts not in the workforce. We鈥檝e got to get them off the sidelines and onto the playing field.鈥�

In education, the chamber said it wanted more Hoosier students proficient in math and English, higher graduation rates 鈥� not counting waivers 鈥� and publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs accessible statewide. Brinegar also highlighted a desire to consolidate small school districts.

Lawmakers have already fulfilled one goal, with recent legislation enabling automatic enrollment of qualifying students into the 21st Century Scholars program.

When it comes to business, the chamber offered congratulations on the state鈥檚 鈥渃ompetitive business and regulatory environment鈥� but said the state should focus on some investment, entrepreneurship, productivity, patent and intellectual property metrics.

鈥淚t is so important for us to be successful in this area (entrepreneurship), because we have to grow our own,鈥� said volunteer task force chair Larry Gigerich, who also leads economic development group Ginovus. 鈥淚ndiana is not likely to be a state where we鈥檙e going to get a lot of headquarters to relocate here. It鈥檚 just not something that is is necessarily a perfect fit for us.鈥�

In infrastructure, the chamber announced goals of high speed communication connectivity for all and carbon neutral targets. Lawmakers have already taken action on two other goals: a state energy strategy and a road improvement program.

But water and wastewater needs still need to be addressed.

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the struggles that have happened in the Boone County area with the LEAP district, which was laid out 鈥� but perhaps not enough thought (was) given to where the water for these massive manufacturing and laboratory facilities was going to come from,鈥� Brinegar remarked.

The chamber highlighted quality of place initiatives to help retain and attract more residents, as well as water, air quality and affordable housing goals. Though the state has gained population overall, Indiana鈥檚 smallest communities are losing people.

And finally, on health, the chamber hoped to lower smoking and addiction levels, 鈥渃ontain鈥� health care costs and boost civic engagement.

鈥淭he cost in loves, lost futures and lost productivity is simply staggering,鈥� the report notes. 鈥溾�� Indiana鈥檚 unhealthy population is a drag on economic growth and a tremendous cost to taxpayers.

Tracking metrics

Brinegar said the chamber would release its first baseline report card this fall, and would likely continue releasing them on a biennial basis.

Indiana鈥檚 business community, philanthropic community and governmental entities are most effective when they are aligned, Gigerich said. And he advocated for all to resource the plan and 鈥渟eize this opportunity.鈥�

鈥淲e cannot afford to be complacent,鈥� he said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

So in 1995, he decided to change that, by founding the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program within UAA to support Alaska natives from kindergarten through doctorate in the STEM fields.

鈥淗e realized, If there were more Alaska native engineers working, there wouldn鈥檛 be people from outside making big decisions,鈥� said Michele Yatchmeneff, an ANSEP alumnus and UAA鈥檚 executive director of Alaska education and outreach. 鈥淚t would actually be our Alaska native students making those decisions for their communities.鈥�

Now, ANSEP鈥檚 yearlong Acceleration Academy allows students to attend UAA full-time as high school students, taking regular college courses and earning college credits. They also have the opportunity to experience professional internships in STEM industries, like oil and gas and conservation. The vast majority of their students identify as native Alaskans. 

鈥淥ne of the main reasons ANSEP was founded was because it was believed that Alaska natives were not smart enough to hold degrees or positions in the STEM field,鈥� said Cody Kapotak, an ANSEP alumnus and a coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service Partnership.

Watch, in the mini documentary above, how ANSEP is changing that perception, empowering Alaska natives, and giving them a seat at the table.

This is not an imaginary scenario 鈥� these lessons and activities are happening at real schools around the world. And the lessons their students are learning, both formal and informal, as they follow their own curiosity, are invaluable as they grow as stewards of our future. We can see it in how two schools, in particular, approach climate change.

set out to build the most sustainable school on the planet. Indonesia is an archipelago with 180 million people living in coastal regions. It faces the imminent threat of rising sea levels and is no stranger to weather-related disasters. Green School Bali is a much-needed inspiration for environmental education far beyond its borders. Students at this international school actively learn about sustainable agriculture, renewable energy systems and ecological conservation, applying fundamental literacies such as critical thinking and writing. They demonstrate what it means to be .

A continent away in Hungary, addresses similar concerns in a different way by focusing on alternatives to dangerous, unsustainable agricultural practices. The school opened a vegan cafeteria that supplies delicious, locally-sourced food for school lunches and the public. Students have a voice in the menus, are involved in the food planning and learn valuable lessons about supply, demand and food sources. By providing families and community members with tasty vegan food, the school encourages the community to lower its meat intake, thus decreasing the need for unsustainable farming practices. 

I saw this all first hand last year, during a 12-month transformational journey exploring innovative educational practices in 34 countries on six continents. I approached this exploration as a life-long educator and co-founder of , a diverse-by-design high school in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee. Here, students use in all of their classes to make education more meaningful, often in collaboration with nonprofits and researchers.

For my tour, I wanted to see what commonalities exist among innovative schools worldwide. I also wanted to see how world events like political shifts, war, youth movements, human migration and climate change affect teaching and learning.

As an educator committed to preparing students for an uncertain future in a swiftly evolving world, my main focus was learning how schools across the globe approach similar goals: namely, how they’re helping students become generous collaborators and original thinkers 鈥� all while mastering foundational knowledge and fundamental literacies. These guide teaching and learning at Crosstown High and in other innovative, student-centered . 

For more ideas on rethinking the high school experience, read The XQ Xtra 鈥� a newsletter for educators that comes out twice a month. .

Student-Led Innovation Creates Sustainable Schools 

Around the world, schools embody the same learner outcomes we use at Crosstown and other XQ schools to prepare students for these immense challenges. 

鈥淐hange starts with an idea, an intention or a problem to be solved,鈥� said Green School Bali Principal Sal Gordon. School educators tasked their students with researching the greatest environmental impacts on their local school community. Through an extensive study of numerous factors, students identified automobile traffic on campus as a leading contributor. With the help of engineers, chemists and automotive experts, students developed a process to convert school buses from diesel to cooking oil for fuel, which they collected from local restaurants. 

Each week, students in the 鈥淕rease Police鈥� procure the oil from a 15-mile radius of the school for refinement and use as fuel, providing a greener alternative to school transportation. Through this kind of project-based learning and hands-on experiences, they gain a profound understanding of the interconnectedness between their actions and the environment. 

The school鈥檚 entire facility encourages this type of learning. Each open-air classroom is constructed of bamboo and thatch, with tables and chairs made locally from sustainable products. Students also manage their own lush gardens at each grade level that provide food for school lunches. They eat fish grown in the student-managed aquaponic system and eggs harvested from the fifth-grade chicken coop. 

In Hungary, REAL School Budapest Founder Barna Barath intentionally designed the vegan cafeteria to serve as a living example of the school鈥檚 purpose. In a traditional school system, a common purpose is to prepare students for postsecondary opportunities that provide individual prosperity. At REAL, the purpose is to live a purposeful and fulfilling life for collective prosperity. Students and parents invest in that vision for the betterment of the community. REAL鈥檚 educators are creating a community space and showing what it means to be learners for life and generous collaborators.

Connect Student-Directed Learning to Academic Standards

Educators at schools anywhere can prepare students for an uncertain future, specifically where that uncertainty relates to environmental change. A key takeaway from the two schools in Indonesia and Hungary is letting students take the lead in their learning. In each case, students investigated problems and found solutions, resulting in deep learning. There are many examples of schools doing similar work in the U.S. At Crosstown High, science teacher Nikki Wallace lets students take the lead by connecting them with local researchers through powerful community partnerships. 

We need to think big. Assigning simple projects around collecting plastic bottles or bags isn鈥檛 enough to move the needle on the environment and won鈥檛 truly engage kids. Even though Indonesia has specific concerns about rising sea levels, schools anywhere can 鈥� and should 鈥� engage students in learning about and studying the effects of droughts, heatwaves, floods and storms that result in crop failure and food scarcity. Here are a few steps to get started:

• Get students to think audaciously about solving local problems. What鈥檚 the big issue facing their neighborhood, town, county or state? How can they learn about it? Who can help them uncover solutions? For example: What is the condition of the local water source? What in the community is impacting local water? Who in the community can share expertise around this issue? 
• As they problem-solve, consider all connections to academic standards. How do research and problem-solving by students connect to the learning standards in your state? This is the crucial jumping-off point for connecting 鈥渁cademic鈥� knowledge to 鈥渞eal world鈥� solutions. At Crosstown High, we鈥檝e done an in-depth study of human migration involving people who immigrated to Memphis. This project closely relates to the standards covered in our history, geography, sociology and psychology courses. 
• Get outside the box. Keep asking, 鈥淲hy?鈥� and push your students to think bigger and broader before zeroing in on the small tasks. At Crosstown, our students conducted an in-depth project on how life could exist on Mars. This encompassed everything from food sources, water, breathable air, transportation and architecture. They used persuasive writing and research 鈥� touching practically every subject area.

Unlock Students鈥� Passion and Curiosity

Helping students find the urgency and passion in learning, and the joy of finding a solution, are key components to solving increasingly urgent local and global issues. But they鈥檙e also the ingredients we need to make learning, in general, more engaging and relevant to high school students. Our high schools can and should do a better job cultivating students鈥� natural passions and curiosities, helping them discover how their unique gifts, talents and interests help them meet the challenges of an uncertain future. Understanding their place in that future builds the confidence needed to be a change-maker.

Luckily, students are naturally forward-focused. They constantly think about what life will be like when they grow up. We can improve the high school experience by activating their natural curiosity and augmenting it with essential skills such as critical thinking, creative problem solving, information gathering and collaboration.

All of these skills are necessary for college, career and the real world. By combining passion, urgency, curiosity and essential knowledge and skills, our students can grow into the superheroes our planet needs to lead urgent and necessary change on the local, national and global stages. Schools around the world are setting examples, and we can, too. 

Want more ideas for making your high school more student-centered? The XQ Xtra is a newsletter for educators that comes out twice a month. .

Disclosure: is a financial supporter of 社区黑料.

Charlnitta Ellis 鈥� also known as 鈥淢ama Chi鈥� and the sister of David T.C. Ellis, who founded High School for Recording Arts 鈥� encouraged Keys to come to the school.

鈥淭his place is a safe haven,鈥� said Tracy Seller, the parent of former HSRA students. 鈥淎 lot of times, these kids get given up on.鈥�

HSRA, nicknamed 鈥淗ip Hop High,鈥� is a public school in St. Paul, Minnesota. T.C. Ellis, who had a long, storied music career growing up and recording with Prince, sought to connect with at-risk students through music 鈥� something that is deeply rooted in the culture of the Twin Cities. HSRA teaches core subjects through a musical lens, helping students develop skills and agency to tackle real-world issues.

Keys credits HSRA with saving his life, and for putting him on a pathway to be where he is in life now 鈥� living in Tennessee with his wife, and working a stable job as a Walmart manager.

鈥淲hat high school that you know can make you take out all your anger on a beat?鈥� Keys said. 鈥淭here ain鈥檛 nobody getting hurt, that鈥檚 amazing to me.鈥�

]]> /article/black-girls-do-stem-opens-worlds-of-opportunity-for-st-louis-middle-schoolers/ Wed, 02 Aug 2023 17:01:00 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=710362 At Ferguson Middle School in St. Louis, female engineers from Boeing sat down with 75 girls for breakfast and an introduction to the world of science, technology, engineering and math. An opportunity to engage hands-on with STEM activities, such as building lava lamps and creating an engineering design for a mobile robot, followed. The event was sponsored by , a St. Louis-based organization focused on connecting young girls of color to science.  

“We know that there are obstacles at every stage of the educational system in America, especially for urban youth and Black girls,” says Cynthia Chapple, founder and managing director. “Students need to feel supported, seen and heard in certain spaces.” 

Since launching Black Girls Do STEM in 2019, Chapple has engaged students at five partner middle schools in St. Louis. Monthly Saturday activities bring students together with mentors to work on projects and experiments in materials science, engineering, technology, cosmetic science and more. The girls also go on field trips and meet Black women who are leaders in the STEM community.

This year, more than 100 girls are participating, guided by over a dozen volunteer mentors. In the first year, the students are introduced to a variety of STEM fields, engaging in a new activity each month. In the second year, they choose from one of five tracks 鈥� aviation and aerospace, cosmetic science, cybersecurity, agriculture technology, and construction and civil engineering 鈥� helping to anchor their STEM interests. When the students reach high school, the organization can provide tutoring, with the goal of supporting them throughout their STEM pursuits while encouraging them to stay focused on advanced math and science. 

“It is so powerful to sit with someone who you feel like you connect with on personal levels,” Chapple says. “You build trust with them and relationship. When you tell them something is possible, they start to believe it more than if a random stranger told them. I think it is tremendous, and why our mentoring network is so critical.”

The program focuses on creating a space that prizes curiosity and exploration 鈥� and the girls start to value that in themselves, Chapple says. “We will be successful if girls walk out of this with a renewed sense of who they are,” she says. “The core is how do we develop this young person into believing big of themselves and a mindset to push through challenges and building resilience that doesn鈥檛 come from trauma.” 

At Ferguson, Sam Brotherton, a math instructional support leader, says Black Girls Do STEM has proven “extremely valuable” for his students. “The girls who attend the Saturday program get to experience science in ways that are relevant to them, while developing a support network in addition to what the school offers,” he says. “Overall, our girls are more interested in the STEM field and get the opportunity to meet more local professionals to extend their network and knowledge of STEM careers.”

Chapple left her job in applied sciences 鈥� she has worked in forensic, food and materials science 鈥� to focus on Black Girls Do STEM. The community-based program has target demographics and identifies school partners in areas of St. Louis where the occupations of the community’s adults do not commonly fall within STEM fields.

The organization comes into the schools through hands-on learning experiences or special events to introduce the program and invite students to join the Saturday sessions. Representatives are also present at community fairs and festivals. About 75% of the girls are students at target schools, but Black Girls Do STEM also accepts students from across greater St. Louis. 

Chapple focused on middle schoolers because students at that age are at a pivotal development stage where they form their identity, yet are curious enough to ask questions and try new challenges. “That is the best age to get them to develop their confidence and awareness around things that are challenging and finding the fun and joy in doing things that may not come to them super easily,” she says. 

The program mixes activities and field trips 鈥� students have visited Boeing, Washington University’s engineering labs, the Saint Louis Zoo veterinary science clinic and more 鈥� to expose the girls to a wide range of STEM worlds. 

Black Girls Do STEM is funded by grants and community support. During the pandemic, much of the program went virtual, and the organization has retained a small cohort of students from across the country who access the program virtually. Chapple says her dream is to keep building the program, offering new opportunities for students while expanding its networks and reach beyond St. Louis. 

“We are real people right here in front of you, investing our time in you and belief in you,” Chapple says. “This is possible. We have done it. I have made products on the shelf that people use every day, that go into devices you use every day. This is regular, everyday stuff.”

]]> /article/reading-writing-carpentry-a-st-louis-hub-for-teaching-girls-key-skills/ Wed, 19 Jul 2023 13:01:00 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=711745 On Tuesday nights, a small storefront nestled in central St. Louis welcomes a crowd of young girls who are yearning to get to work.

Some of them are in the alley out back, cutting through tough plywood with circular saws, while others are inside using impact drivers to join pieces of framework. Other girls will be stationed next to a laser printer, creating decals and decorations.

鈥淚t is just a symphony of chaos, but it鈥檚 amazing,鈥� said Kelli Best-Oliver, who oversees the work along with a group of volunteers. 鈥淭hey’re all doing it relatively independently and, you know, there’s music playing, and it’s just this diverse group of kids. The culture that we’re creating here is something special.鈥� 

The project 鈥� building a structure for a hole of miniature golf 鈥� is just one of many happening at , a nonprofit that provides after-school and summer programming for girls and gender-expansive youth, ages 10 to 16.

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LitShop offers book clubs and writing sessions along with workshops focused on building and construction 鈥� carpentry, printmaking, fiber arts or architecture.

Many of the resulting projects benefit the community. The miniature golf structure will go to a local arts association. The students also recently built a wheelchair ramp for a St. Louis resident.

鈥淲e will have kids who are attracted to us for one reason or another 鈥� they are either a bookworm or emerging writer, or they really want to get their hands dirty and make a lot of noise and learn how to use tools,鈥� said Kelli Best-Oliver, LitShop’s founder. 鈥淚t really opens kids鈥� eyes up to what they don鈥檛 even know because they鈥檙e not doing it at school.鈥�

Best-Oliver, who worked as a literacy and language arts curriculum coordinator for St. Louis Public Schools for more than 15 years, said there are minimal opportunities in the city鈥檚 schools to take classes centered on construction and building. The push to pursue admission to college also discourages students from considering other options, like the trades industries, she said. 

鈥淲e need to validate and affirm that building trades are just as valuable to both our communities and society, but can also be a tool for economic mobility. (Students) just don鈥檛 know because we鈥檙e not even giving them that information,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even know it鈥檚 an option for them.鈥�

Female students receive even less exposure to the construction trades than boys, she said. That鈥檚 why LitShop is geared toward girls 鈥� to give them a chance to break into male-dominated jobs. Only 11% of workers in the industry are female, according to by the Institute for Women鈥檚 Policy Research.

Best-Oliver said it鈥檚 also crucial for LitShop to be open to gender-expansive youth, as LGBTQ+ people have an even smaller presence in the building trades.

鈥淓specially in Missouri, it literally can save lives to validate a kid鈥檚 gender identity, in a safe and affirming place where they can be themselves,鈥� she said.

Best-Oliver said she doesn鈥檛 want to inspire girls just to explore the trades industry, but also science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A lot of LitShop projects are STEM-based, such as a circuitry class the organization offered in early May. Students learned about wiring, batteries and circuits and how to make sculptures with LED-light fixtures.

According to the , only about 28% of STEM employees in the U.S. are female.

Even if the girls don’t pursue a STEM career, Best-Oliver, said they will be gaining important skills for any path they take in the future. It’s “valuable and rad for girls to know how to use a circular saw,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s just a very powerful and empowering thing.鈥�

For sixth-grader Stella Andersen, LitShop has given her an outlet for not only learning to use tools, but for exploring her passion for writing.

Stella has been with LitShop for three years and said she was initially attracted to its literacy component. One of her first projects was to read a novel and create a 鈥渢winkle board鈥� 鈥� a large wooden sign with lights that spell out a specific word related to the novel.

She contributes to the organization鈥檚 publication, called LitMag, which features writing and art from the students, but also enjoys participating in group building projects like the mini-golf hole.

鈥淚t’s fun when people are walking by and they just look through the door and it’s funny to see them trying to figure out what LitShop is and what’s happening,鈥� Stella said.

LitShop is based on a similar organization in Berkeley, California, called , which Best-Oliver visited in 2019. At the time, she was disillusioned with her job in the 20,000-student St. Louis district and frustrated with how test-driven curriculum was, especially in underfunded urban areas.

鈥淲hen I walked in, I was just like, 鈥楾his is it. If I don’t do something like this in St. Louis, someone else is going to do it,鈥� 鈥� Best-Oliver said. 鈥淚 was going to be stuck in my current job shaking my fist because I didn’t have the courage to strike out on my own.鈥�

Emily Pilloton-Lam founded the California organization in 2008. At first, it was open to all students, but Pilloton-Lam shifted to focus on girls and gender-expansive youth in 2013 and changed the name to match. 

When she created the organization, Pilloton-Lam said, she couldn鈥檛 shake the nagging feeling that even though the work was powerful, it was alienating the girls because they still felt like they didn鈥檛 fully belong working alongside the boys.

鈥淚t’s the thing that I have experienced as an educator, working with students, and I’m leading a build and I’m in charge and no one treats me like I’m in charge. I started to see some of those same feelings manifest with my female students,鈥� Pilloton-Lam said. 鈥淚 call it the social calculus of being a woman 鈥� you walk into a room or onto a construction site and you’re constantly having to calibrate, 鈥楬ow do I prove that I belong here?鈥� 鈥�

Best-Oliver took her inspiration from Pilloton-Lam and created a pilot program of LitShop that started in St. Louis classrooms. She began by teaching students construction and writing skills in schools during the day, with the help of district staff. The pilot program was a success, and at the end of the school year, Best-Oliver quit her job to make LitShop its own organization.

The pandemic forced her to switch from in-person to virtual programming. The organization finally transitioned from being school-based to standing on its own after Best-Oliver purchased the building that now houses the storefront workshop.

LitShop currently has about 100 students enrolled, and Best-Oliver hopes to increase that number if the organization can secure more grant funding. All programs and workshops are free to students.

The nonprofit is gearing up to offer its summer programs: a print shop for making merchandise, like T-shirts; a woodworking and writer鈥檚 workshop; architectural model making; a furniture project; a book club; and a paper mache workshop.

鈥淲hat we’re doing on paper can sound cool, but it can also sound confusing, like, ‘I don’t get how these things fit together.’ But if you come to our shop, and you see what we’re doing, nobody comes here and says, 鈥楾his is lame,鈥� 鈥� Best-Oliver said. 鈥淓verybody leaves here being like, 鈥楾his is awesome. How can I get involved?鈥� We are doing something that nobody is doing. And it is really cool to walk into a place and see a 12-year-old on power tools.鈥�

]]> /article/watch-how-a-16-year-old-pilot-built-an-app-to-get-more-women-people-of-color-into-flying/ Tue, 04 Apr 2023 18:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=706973 Meet Angelina Tsuboi, a 16-year-old pilot and app developer who is using her skills and passion to provide others 鈥� particularly women and people of color 鈥� with resources to pursue careers in aviation. 

鈥淲hen I was a kid, the superpower I鈥檝e always wanted was to fly,鈥� she said. 鈥淎viation was the closest thing I could get to that.鈥�

But her journey wasn鈥檛 easy. Obtaining a pilot鈥檚 license costs thousands 鈥� if not tens of thousands 鈥� of dollars in coursework and flight time. To fund her training, Angela put a lot of energy into searching for scholarships. The more time she spent in aviation, however, the more she started to notice that most people in the industry don鈥檛 look like her.

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So she sought to help aspiring pilots, especially women and people of color, gain access to aviation by developing an app, , to connect them with a marketplace of scholarships to offset the daunting cost of flight training.

Another one of her apps, , is an Apple Watch product that provides a real-time guide to administer CPR, and it won the 2022 Apple Swift Student Challenge, which tasks students with creating an 鈥�.鈥� She was invited to Apple headquarters where she met Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Angelina says she wants to continue working on projects that make the world a better place. 

鈥淕lobal problems have local roots,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd by tackling a small problem within your general community鈥� you can impact a global problem.鈥�

Click here to see & share Tsuboi鈥檚 story 鈥� and check out this other recent coverage of teenagers breaking new ground in STEM: 

Watch: 17-Year-Old Makes History By Sequencing Genome of Pet Fish

A Teen鈥檚 Research on Bees鈥� Memory Is Helping Avert Colony Collapse Disorder

Florida Teen Invents World鈥檚 First Sustainable Electric Vehicle Motor

14-Year-Old Wins $25,000 Prize For Robotic Hand He Built For Less Than $100

Meet the 16 Under 16 in STEM Achievers

鈥擯roduced & Edited by Jim Fields

]]> /article/watch-17-year-old-makes-history-by-sequencing-genome-of-pet-fish/ Tue, 21 Feb 2023 07:01:00 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=704621 Indeever Madireddy, 17, is an avid fish lover. Not as food, but as pets. The San Jose, California teen meticulously raises his freshwater angelfish from egg to adulthood. But when one of his prized fish died, he was struck with an idea: use the fish for genetic mapping. Indeever says this is important for use as 鈥渁 model organism in future biomedical research.鈥�

Working at biohacking space BioCurious, he successfully mapped the genetic code of his pet fish and submitted it to the National Library of Medicine鈥檚 Center for Biotechnology Information. 

Indeever鈥檚 passion for biomedical research is inspired by a passion for STEM education. 

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鈥淪TEM, of course, is really important to me,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ecause it gives me the tools to solve and answer questions in the world around us.鈥�

Click here to see & share Madireddy鈥檚 story 鈥� and check out this other recent coverage of teenagers breaking new ground in STEM: 

• A Teen鈥檚 Research on Bees鈥� Memory Is Helping Avert Colony Collapse Disorder

• Florida Teen Invents World鈥檚 First Sustainable Electric Vehicle Motor

• 14-Year-Old Wins $25,000 Prize For Robotic Hand He Built For Less Than $100

• Meet the 16 Under 16 in STEM Achievers

鈥擯roduced & Edited by Jim Fields

]]> /article/video-a-california-teens-research-on-bees-memory-is-helping-avert-colony-collapse-disorder/ Tue, 14 Feb 2023 14:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=704136 When Rory Hu came across a news article about the global decline in honey bee populations, she was inspired to do something about it. Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, it puts the global food supply at serious risk.

The teen from San Jose, California, dug deeper, discovering in her research that harmful pesticides can damage the honey bees’ learning and memory. Impaired bees can鈥檛 harvest pollen well and have a hard time finding their way back to the hive.

With the help of a local beekeeper, Hu set out an experiment to mollify these effects. She created artificial flowers tinged with caffeine and a food supplement called T-Polyphenol. The experiment intended to use the compounds to improve the bees鈥� memories. Her experiment worked. The bees thrived. 

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Rory won the Department of Defense STEM Talent Award of $10,000 for her experiment at the 2022 Broadcom MASTERS, a national science and engineering competition for middle school students. 鈥淜nowing that I would even be able to have a small part in [solving the problem],鈥� she says, 鈥渋t would be extremely gratifying to me.鈥�

Click here to see & share Hu鈥檚 story 鈥� and check out this other recent coverage of teenagers breaking new ground in STEM: 

• Florida Teen Invents World鈥檚 First Sustainable Electric Vehicle Motor
• 14-Year-Old Wins $25,000 Prize For Robotic Hand He Built For Less Than $100
• Meet the 16 Under 16 in STEM Achievers

鈥擯roduced & Edited by Jim Fields

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