The demand for talent to fill STEM jobs in Iowa drives the mission of the STEM Council—an “edu-nomic” development charge aiming now to bridge more school+business partnerships through exemplary STEM education in the PreK-12 arena.
That means the time, talent and treasures of the STEM Council’s Corporate Partners are vital in answering the call to unite the worlds of business and education. It is because of these partnerships that Iowa STEM programming is able to impact about 100,000 students every year across the state.
This past fiscal year, the STEM Council partnered with dozens of Corporate Partners who invested more than $500,000 in various activities underneath the STEM Council’s umbrella. With their support, the STEM Council:
- Doubled the amount of STEM BEST® and STEM RLE awards given in November 2015;
- Led a second year of rallying Iowa behind “Code Iowa” and offering training workshops to teachers;
- Increased the amount of STEM Scale-Up Program awards;
- Awarded a second round of six exemplary STEM teachers with the I.O.W.A. STEM Teacher Award;
- Developed a portal that serves as a community for STEM Scale-Up Program educators (coming soon!);
- Worked with Strategic America to create four new career vignettes showcasing Iowa STEM jobs;
- Brought in nearly 60 Teacher Externs for this summer’s Iowa STEM Teacher Externships program.
The effects of this support equips educators, inspires students and changes the way our state thinks about preparing these young minds for the jobs of the future in Iowa. We are grateful for all of our Corporate Partners who believe in our mission and trust us to work with all cross-sections of Iowa to help close the skills gap for them and the future of Iowa’s economy.
A full list of Corporate Partners can be found at www.IowaSTEM.gov/Corporate-Partners.