The Education Foundation Receives $181,000 Boeing Grant for STEM Education
November 8, 2011
CHARLESTON, SC – November 8, 2011 – The Education Foundation received a $181,000 grant from The Boeing Company which was announced today at the Business Education Summit, to extend a professional development program for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties. The ultimate goal of the STEM Education Partnerships (STEP) initiative is to ensure a pipeline of graduates who are equipped with knowledge and skills that match our region’s economic needs.
“We are very grateful to Boeing for this extraordinary opportunity to continue and extend the professional development program begun this year,” shared Amy Kovach, chair, The Education Foundation. “Through this grant, teachers will gain on-site experience in STEM-related businesses; participate in institutes on project-based learning, and how to build and sustain business-education partnerships; and implement new methods for teaching STEM to their students.”
The growing need for STEM education is largely due to the globally rapid growth of STEM-related industries in recent years. Because STEM industries like Boeing are expanding worldwide, it is crucial to educate students in these fields to provide companies with a competitive workforce.
The STEP initiative is a three-year professional development program for teachers in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester county school districts. The outcome will be a larger number of teacher-leaders who have:
- created sustainable partnerships with STEM-related businesses
- implemented innovative STEM teaching strategies
- developed methods for engaging non-traditional students in STEM
- developed leadership skills to facilitate systemic change in strategies for teaching STEM
The core idea behind project-based learning is that real-world problems capture students’ interest and stimulate critical thinking and teamwork as the students apply new knowledge in a problem-solving context. The STEP initiative will give the participating teachers a new arsenal of project-based teaching strategies aimed at preparing students for entry-level jobs that are becoming more and more sophisticated.
“Over time, thousands of students will be impacted by the new teaching strategies and business partnerships that their teachers establish,” according to Allen Wutzdorff, executive director The Education Foundation. “We appreciate Boeing for recognizing that teachers are the cornerstone of a good education and they need to be familiar with the requirements of the business world as they prepare their students for the twenty-first century workforce.”
About The Education Foundation
The Education Foundation, an initiative of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1995 to build partnerships between the business community and the schools, mobilize resources and advocate the changes necessary in our community to prepare all students for the careers of the future.
