Baker-Polito Administration Announces 4th
Annual Massachusetts Statewide STEM Week
Awards Grants to Education
Organizations to Launch STEM Design Challenges during STEM Week
WORCESTER – Today, The Baker-Polito
Administration announced that the fourth annual STEM Week will take place this
year from October 18-22 and will feature mainly in-person events, after being
held virtually last year. Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Secretary of
Education James Peyser joined President of Worcester
Polytechnic Institute Laurie Leshin to make the announcement at Worcester
Polytechnic Institute where they also awarded nearly $300,000 in Design
Challenge grants to seven education organizations gearing up to provide STEM
education opportunities to students across the Commonwealth during the 4th
annual statewide STEM Week.
“Our Administration, through the leadership of Lt.
Governor Polito and the STEM Advisory Council, has worked hard for the past
several years to help kids across the state gain experience in STEM
fields,” said
Governor Charlie Baker. “Especially now, with the most
technology jobs per capita in the country, the demand for highly-skilled people
is a pressing issue and STEM Week is an important way to highlight the many
opportunities that exist in science, technology, engineering and math.”
“We remain committed to creating additional access and
awareness to STEM careers for Massachusetts students across the state,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Chair
of the STEM Advisory Council. “STEM Week and the design
challenges offered by these organizations that we are proud to support, will
help students gain more exposure and experience in STEM subjects and provide
them with the opportunities they need to succeed.”
Strengthening STEM education in the Commonwealth’s K-12
schools is a priority of the Baker-Polito Administration. The first STEM Week
was held in October 2018 as a way to boost interest in STEM subjects among
students, particularly young women and minority students, and highlight the
abundance of career opportunities in the Commonwealth. The STEM Week tagline
“See Yourself in STEM” encourages young people to think about studying science,
technology, engineering, and math to pursue STEM careers.
STEM Week is a collaborative effort between the Executive
Office of Education; the STEM Advisory Council, which works to generate
interest and support from the business community for STEM activities and is
co-chaired by Lt. Governor Polito, Congressman Jake Auchincloss and Vertex
Pharmaceuticals Executive Chairman Jeffrey Leiden; and the Commonwealth’s nine
Regional STEM Networks, which plan and coordinate activities with local
schools, community leaders and business partners.
“The STEM design challenges provide engaging and
meaningful opportunities for students in all grades to gain knowledge in
science, technology, engineering and math by solving real-world problems that
communities face,” said
Secretary of Education James Peyser. “Our design challenge
partners are a crucial part of making STEM Week meaningful and fun for our
students.”
“Engaging more K-12 students in STEM isn’t
just good for them; it’s good for Massachusetts’ innovation economy and, even
more profoundly, our world. There is a pressing global need for a
diversity of STEM professionals, leaders, and innovators–people of every race,
gender, and socio-economic background–to co-create successful solutions to
great problems,” said
WPI President Laurie Leshin. “Introducing STEM at an early age is critical in
helping students develop self-confidence, and gain valuable teamwork,
communication, and problem-solving skills needed throughout life. Our hope is
these design challenges will foster a long-lasting interest in STEM that
extends to future educational and career choices.”
“Getting kids
hooked on science is all about creating fun, hands-on experiences where they
can explore these topics in the real world alongside scientists and
mentors,” said Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Chairman of
Vertex. “Throughout the pandemic we crafted novel ways to deliver
these experiences virtually, and we remain fully committed to partnering with
the community to ensure students – particularly women and those who are
underrepresented in STEM – continue to have the opportunities they need to
succeed.”
The following organizations received grants to develop
STEM design challenges for students:
BioBuilder Educational
Foundation, Newton - $21,515: BioBuilder invites students across the Commonwealth
to engage with its Idea Accelerator, a digital offering that allows students to
learn the foundations of biodesign and challenges them to develop a
biotechnology that solves any challenge they want to address. The world’s
health crisis has focused everyone’s attention on biology and life science. A
design challenge related to bioengineering is not only timely but is also a way
to focus student’s ideas on solving society’s needs, allowing students to both
see themselves in STEM and see STEM in the world. To learn more, contact
Stephanie Ovitt at stephanie@biobuilder.org.
CoderZ by Intelitek, Inc.
- $50,000: CoderZ
invites students and educators to explore CSTEM, the fusion of computer science
and STEM, through their award-winning platform during Massachusetts STEM
Week 2021. Owned by Intelitek, Inc., CoderZ's gamified online
platform is as easy to use as it is powerful. Students learn core
STEM, coding, and robotics skills, while supporting 21st Century
skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. To learn more
contact Kathy Scott at kathy@gocoderz.com or
215.589.3954, and to schedule a demo, visit https://calendly.com/kathygocoderz.
FIRST Robotics
WPI, Worcester, $102,700 - New England FIRST invites students and educators across
the Commonwealth to engage with robotics teams during MA STEM week and learn
more about how to get hands-on with robotics. FIRST programs enable
students from kindergarten through high school to understand the basics of STEM
and apply their skills in an exciting challenge while building habits of
learning, confidence, and teamwork skills along the way. To learn more,
visit https://nefirst.org/ or first@wpi.edu
Gale Force
Education - $25,000: Gale Force Education brings the excitement of power
engineering to high school students through Engineering for Resilience (EfR),
which focuses on the design and operation of New England’s power grid. In a
series of challenges aligned to MA STEM standards, students will design, test,
and improve power grid system components and a model power grid system. To
learn more, visit https://bit.ly/2UMvRdN or
contact us at michael@kidwind.org.
Kids in Tech, Inc.,
Lowell - $40,240:
Kids in Tech’s STEM Challenge will help students in the Commonwealth visualize
the concepts of AI, understand how these systems affect the world, and
appreciate the potential they have to change the future. Students will utilize
two online platforms, Machine Learning for Kids and Scratch,
through which they will complete engaging activities that allow them to see
what is possible with AI concepts and technology. The challenge will culminate
in a project in which students will design their own Smart Cities using AI
principles and programming language. To learn more, visit us at www.kidsintech.org or info@kidsintech.org.
Museum of Science,
Cambridge - $49,994: The Museum of Science and EiE®, the Museum’s
curricular division, invites educators and students to see themselves in STEM
by engaging with the museum’s newest permanent exhibition, Engineering Design
Workshop powered by MathWorks, in classrooms throughout the Commonwealth during
Mass STEM Week 2021. Engineering Design Workshop enriches hands-on activities
through the use of state-of-the-art tools and includes the popular Design
Challenges program that invites visitors to design, build, and test their own solutions
to fun engineering and computer science challenges. Challenges will engage
students live and in-person as they engineer to solve problems related to
environmental challenges humans face across the globe, set in the context of
urban, coastal, suburban, and rural settings across the Commonwealth. To learn
more, contact Lesley Kennedy, manager of professional development, at lkennedy@mos.org.
United Way of
Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, Boston - $16,245: In partnership with
Boston Public Schools, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley’s
(UWMB) BoSTEM initiative challenges students and educators across the
Commonwealth to explore social justice for civics by using STEM as the lever
for change. The impact of social justice issues on youth has been exacerbated
by COVID-19 and racial injustices. Through this design challenge, teachers will
support their students in local data collection and synthesis to build a social
justice message and project around equity in the city for issues like our
deteriorating environment, lack of affordable housing, transportation equity
and food security. To learn more, contact us at bostem@supportunitedway.org.
Wade Institute for Science
Education, Quincy - $25,000: The Wade Institute for Science Education, the Salem
Sound Coastwatch, and the Lloyd Center for the Environment have designed
“Hurricane Heroes! Storm City, Massachusetts,” a phenomena-based challenge that
will allow educators to use grade-level appropriate science and technology
concepts that address Massachusetts curriculum standards. This challenge will
give students across the Commonwealth the opportunity to learn about storms and
their impact and to incorporate engineering concepts with physical and earth
science disciplinary core ideas. To learn more,
visit wadeinstitutema.org or contact Sandi Ryack-Bell at sRyack-Bell@wadeinstitutema.org.
STEM Challenge Partners
The following organizations were also announced as STEM
Challenge Partners. The organizations have collaborated with the STEM Advisory
Council over the last 4 years to provide opportunities for students across the
Commonwealth.
i2 Learning
i2 Learning has been proud to partner with the
Commonwealth since the inaugural Massachusetts STEM Week in 2018. Building on
i2's successful weeklong and monthlong programs in schools and districts around
the country, i2 is now partnering with select Massachusetts school districts to
pilot i2 Full Year, a complete school year of immersive, interdisciplinary,
project-based curriculum. For more information about bringing an i2 program to
your school or district, please visit www.i2learning.org.
Mass STEM Hub and Project
Lead the Way:
As part of Mass STEM Week 2021, Mass STEM Hub, a program
of the One8 Foundation, is providing an opportunity for schools to connect
directly with industry professionals to help students deepen their learning and
link their coursework to real-world careers. With Student Industry Connects for
STEM Week 2021, middle and high school students (grades 6-12) are invited to
submit Project Lead The Way (PLTW) and OpenSciEd (OSE) projects from Fall 2021
to receive authentic feedback from STEM professionals on their work. Classrooms
that submit projects will also have the opportunity to continue the
conversation with professionals through follow-up virtual classroom visits.
Visit Mass
STEM Hub Student Industry Connects website for more information,
including a link to register. Contact connect@mass-stemhub.org with
any questions.
About the STEM Advisory
Council
The grants were awarded through the Massachusetts STEM
Advisory Council, whose members are appointed by the Governor and include
education and business leaders in STEM industries that work to promote STEM
education, partnerships among industries and schools, and internships for
students. The STEM Advisory Council serves as a coordinating entity
between the public and private sectors and has three main priorities for STEM
Education in Massachusetts:
· STEM skills for all through applied
learning
· Guided pathways to college, careers, and
lifelong learning
Alignment to economic & workforce
development through employer partnerships.
