As part of an effort to reach female and minority students who are underrepresented in science and engineering careers, Texas Instruments has given the school departments in South Portland and Portland a multi-year grant to create a new academy focused on science, math and engineering.
The $220,000 grant significantly increases the ability of the two school departments to engage students in the academic arena most often referred to as STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which has seen an increased focus in recent years, both in educational and business circles.
In a press release announcing the grant, Chris Joyce, the site manager for Maine operations at Texas Instruments said, “A robust STEM education is very important to grow the base of talented employees working at TI’s South Portland semiconductor manufacturing facility.”
He added, “from the engineers who develop the manufacturing processes to the technicians who maintain the complex equipment and the manufacturing associates who make the electronic chips, a strong K-12 foundational math, science and engineering curriculum is critical.”
That’s especially true now that “STEM careers are growing faster than other occupational choices,” White said.
Texas Instruments is giving out almost $6 million in “Power of STEM Education” grants across the country.
The grants are targeted to a variety of school districts and other nonprofit partners in communities, like South Portland, where the company has a major design or manufacturing presence. Overall, according to the press release, “giving is focused on collaborative strategies to improve student success and teaching effectiveness in STEM education.”
Andy Smith, director of corporate philanthropy at Texas Instruments, said, “We (are) seeking out effective partners to get results. Through these partnerships, we believe all students can move forward and experience greater success in STEM.”
Anne Gauthier, director of public affairs at Texas Instruments, told the Current this week that her company invited both the South Portland and Portland school districts to apply for a Power of STEM grant.
Now-retired South Portland Superintendent Suzanne Godin asked if the two school departments could apply for funding together, and Gauthier said her company was happy to comply with that request. She said it would be up to the two school districts to decide how the money gets spent.
Gauthier said one reason her company is making such a huge investment in STEM education is that it’s in Texas Instrument’s long-term interests.
Above all she said her company “wants all students to have the option to pursue STEM careers when they complete high school. If students haven’t had the opportunity to explore and study science, technology, engineering and math throughout their K-12 (years), there is a strong possibility they will not be inspired to take the necessary classes to pursue a higher education STEM major.”
From the point of view of the South Portland School Department the STEM grant from Texas Instruments is a great way to expand its offerings in science, math and engineering, according to Angela Marzilli, the district’s STEM coordinator.
“The grant will provide STEM experiences for students, which will provide them with even more integrated and enriching (opportunities) and learning,” she said. “We believe this will improve the experience of students already interested in STEM as well as show other students, particularly girls and minorities, different STEM fields and topics, which might cause them to become more interested in STEM courses in school.”
Another key component of the grant is that it pays for project- based learning training for teachers, as well as training them in how to specifically encourage and teach girls and minorities in STEM courses, Marzilli said.
She said the goal is for the new STEM Academy to be an after-school and summer program. Teachers employed in South Portland and Portland would act as instructors and STEM programs would be housed at schools in both school districts throughout the school year.
During the academic year, the academy would offer after-school programming at one site in South Portland and one in Portland, according to Marzilli. Then, in the summer, the academy would be a three-week program focused on different STEM topics and projects that would be taught jointly at one school site, which has yet to be determined.
Marzilli said the South Portland School Department created a STEM coordinator position four years ago and since then, “we have added a STEM inquiry elective at each of our middle schools, worked with elementary school teachers on providing integrated STEM opportunities for their students and are in the process of finalizing a STEM graduation pathway for high school students.”
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