Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) awareness programs such as Great Minds in STEM connect classroom math and science to STEM careers, help students engage with real-life scientists and engineers, and involve parents, teachers, and local colleges and universities in community workshops on college access, financial aid, and current issues pertaining to STEM education.
Established in 1989, as HENAAC, Great Minds in STEM is a non-profit that focuses on STEM educational awareness programs for students from kindergarten to career.
Great Minds in STEM provides resources for recognition and recruitment of Hispanics in STEM on a national level, connecting multi-areas of engineering and science arenas to the general population.
For years, Great Minds in STEM has engaged and partnered with parents, established a forum for academic advisement and college and career coaching, and helped make learning relevant.
One of its K-12 Education programs, Viva Technology, provides access to STEM career pathways on Student Days, Parent Days, Teacher Days and at Student Assemblies. Through its various options, Viva Technology has been implemented in 18 states & the District of Columbia, reaching over 120,000 students, teachers & parents!
On Friday, Sept. 29, Great Minds in STEM returned to Houston, Texas with the 2017 STEM Showdown!
In this exciting event, underserved high school and university students compete in a series of STEM challenges. Teams comprised of both high school and college students participate in active learning exercises designed to build skills fundamental to the application of technology.
Students leave the program understanding the correlation between their math and science studies and future STEM careers – skills they will carry with them into college and beyond.
In addition to the competition, participants interacted with scientists, engineers and other professionals from Shell Oil Company first-hand. They also heard from career awareness speaker Iris Diaz, a cost engineer with Shell International Exploration and Production.
Parents and teachers also participated in workshops held in collaboration with the Shell Oil Company and local university partners regarding college access, financial aid, and current issues pertaining to STEM education.
On a related note Friday, the Pew Research Center said a record 3.6 million Hispanics were enrolled in public and private colleges in the U.S. in 2016, up 180 percent from the 1.3 million who were enrolled in 1999.
The increase in Hispanic college enrollment outpaced Hispanic enrollment growth in U.S. nursery and K-12 schools during the same span, Pew said in a blog post “Hispanic dropout rate hits new low, college enrollment at new high”
Roberta Furger of the Learning Policy Institute in California explained that “the reasons for dropping out vary, but there are pockets of success point to measures that work.”
No doubt about it, one of those “pockets of success with measures that work” is Great Minds in a STEM.
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