Editor’s note: Early Tuesday, the US2020 and the White House named seven regional coalitions as winners in a contest designed to advance the cause of STEM education across the U.S. Research Triangle Park’s STEM Alliance of more than 40 partners from across the private and public sectors, is one of the winners. The group, led by the RTP Foundation, explains its objectives through a website at US2020.

The backstory begins with comments from RTP Foundation CEO Bob Geolas. The Foundation spearheaded the winning application.

The Research Triangle Park was built in service to education. For over fifty years, industry, government and universities have worked together in RTP, investing in education and promoting science and technology. As an honored recipient of the US2020 grant we intend to advance that model of success with innovation, ensuring continued economic growth for our state and leadership for America.”

– Bob Geolas, President and CEO, The Research Triangle Park

 

  • The Moment it Came Together

The Research Triangle Park Foundation sent out a general call to business, nonprofit, and educational leaders inviting everyone to an informational meeting to explore creating a collaborative to engage in the US2020 initiative. The response was strong and the room was packed with many people meeting for the first time, even though everyone in the room was engaged in similar work. The possibilities for cross-fertilization of ideas and the opportunity to create deep and meaningful synergy in the three county area surrounding the RTP has inspired a deeply committed group of leaders to engage on a regular basis, a first for the area.

  • Why We Decided to Participate

North Carolina is ranked #36 in the country in Math and Science with a below average score of 2.34 (1-5 scale). In addition, the state is ranked 48th investment per student. The three counties in our area have a large disparity in the percentage of students enrolled in the Free and Reduced Lunch program (2011-2012): Wake County 36%, Orange County 32.2% and Durham County 63.6%. The Research Triangle Park region hosts over 170 global companies that foster a culture of scientific advancement and competitive excellence. With more than 39,000 full-time employees in RTP and an additional 10,000 contract workers, and 3 major universities, the area has the ability to mentor our future workforce. We have the ability to make a lasting change. The pieces to do this already exist, we just need to unite them.

  • One of Our Key Strategies

Many of the companies in our area already embrace and support STEM education in their own ways. The approaches range from ‘one-off’ events such as tours and career days to deep mentoring of robotics teams, lab experiences and hands-on projects. Mentorship with kids via established nonprofit STEM programs will be broken down into jobs ranked Level A-E based on the required time commitment for completion (A being ‘one-off’ model and E being the longer term, impactful support). Our goal is to move volunteers up the continuum from A to E by letting them experience success through established curricular programs with our experienced nonprofit partners.

  • What We Hope to Learn

We are interested in testing the ability to effectively and efficiently engage large numbers of mentors through use of on-line tools and training. We will be creating a series of on-line volunteer training modules that will create the baseline training for all mentors no matter which program they choose to engage. Once a specific program is selected, the nonprofit partner will supply the in-depth, program specific training needed for optimal success. It is our hope that creating a shared starting point for all program and mentors will generate greater excitement and ease the entry to participation.

Note: Want to get involved? Contact Lisa Jemison at jemison@rtp.org

For more about the program and a list of its members, read WRAL TechWire’s coverage of the winner announcement.