Science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education efforts will receive a financial boost from Lenovo during North Carolina’s sales tax-free weekend.
The world’s No. 3 PC maker says it will donate up to $25,000 from the sales of computers during North Carolina’s tax-free weekend (Aug. 5-8) to the NC Science Olympiad.
The non-profit group, which is housed at N.C. State, puts on technology competitions, or Olympiads, each year to help boost STEM education. The annual competitions, which began in 1974, draw thousands of students from hundreds of schools across the state.
“These tournaments are rigorous academic interscholastic competitions that consist of a series of different hands-on, interactive, challenging and inquiry-based events that are well balanced between the various disciplines of biology, earth science, environmental science, chemistry, physics, engineering and technology,” the group says.
However, the organization’s existence and events are threatened by budget cuts.
Lenovo said the company wants to help the Olympiads continue.
“Lenovo employs a large number of people with these skills and depends upon a pipeline of new students with high-tech skills to become part of its future workforce,” Kristy Fair, a spokesperson for Lenovo, said. “By supporting the NC Science Olympiad through this promotion, Lenovo and consumers nationwide are able to help this non-profit remain in operation.
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