 "I'm proud to announce... a new AmeriCorps program that’s going to connect more professional scientists and engineers to young students who might follow in their footsteps."– President Barack Obama, April 22, 2013
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White House Announces STEM AmeriCorps to Inspire Young People's Interest in Science and TechnologySTEM AmeriCorps Will Boost U.S. Competitiveness by Building Interest in STEM Professions
Washington,
D.C. -- The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will
launch a new STEM AmeriCorps initiative to spur student interest in
science, technology, engineering, and math education, President Obama
announced today at the White House Science Fair.
STEM
AmeriCorps is a multi-year initiative to place hundreds of AmeriCorps
members in nonprofits across the country to mobilize STEM professionals
to inspire young people to excel in STEM education.
“By
strengthening STEM education for students, especially those from
low-income backgrounds, AmeriCorps will spark greater interest in math
and science and build ladders of opportunity these students might
otherwise never have,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS, which oversees
AmeriCorps. “STEM AmeriCorps will also help our nation compete for the
jobs and industries of the future by encouraging more students to go
into STEM professions.”
As
the first phase, CNCS will place 50 full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members
with FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology),
a nonprofit founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire an appreciation
of science and technology in young people through robotics competitions.
The
AmeriCorps VISTA members will serve in low-income communities across
the country. They will recruit volunteers and support teams of students
to participate in FIRST competitions, making it possible for more
students to be exposed to the STEM fields. Through a second initiative,
AmeriCorps VISTA will also partner with leading nonprofits in the maker
movement to create maker spaces in high schools around the country.
These
investments will lay the foundation for an AmeriCorps grant competition
later this year when STEM will be a priority, allowing the funding of
hundreds of STEM-focused AmeriCorps members across the country.
AmeriCorps members will recruit and support thousands of STEM
professionals to volunteer through in-school, after-school, and other
academic programs. To maximize this opportunity, CNCS will pursue
partnerships with both the private sector and other federal agencies.
“Many
of America's future challenges, from finding new sources of energy to
responding to threats to our national security, are going to require new
technologies. FIRST and our more than 100,000 volunteers share the
vision of inspiring young people to dream of becoming science and
technology leaders,” said Bob Tuttle, Interim President, FIRST. “We are
grateful to the Corporation for National and Community Service for
supporting this vision by providing AmeriCorps VISTAs to help expose
more low-income students to the joy and promise of science and
technology.”
The
Obama administration has made STEM education a major priority. In
2009, the President launched “Educate to Innovate,” a nationwide effort
to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in
science and math achievement over the next decade. A growing number of
jobs require STEM skills, and America needs a world-class STEM workforce
to address the challenges of the 21st century.
STEM
AmeriCorps will advance this national priority by using national
service to spur greater interest by K-12 students in the STEM
professions. The goals of STEM AmeriCorps include improving academic
performance in STEM coursework; expanding the number of students on
track to graduate ready for college and for careers in STEM fields;
increasing interactions between youth and STEM professionals; and
sparking the imagination and interest of students to pursue STEM
subjects.
The
President’s announcement of STEM AmeriCorps comes on the heels of
another national service initiative to bolster education. In February,
CNCS announced School Turnaround AmeriCorps,
a partnership with the Department of Education to place AmeriCorps
members in persistently underachieving schools across the country. This
innovative approach seeks to increase student academic achievement,
attendance and high school graduation rates, and college and career
readiness in those schools.
Today’s
announcement of additional AmeriCorps VISTA members for FIRST expands
on the significant support CNCS has provided to FIRST since 2004,
including grants to support FIRST Senior Mentors, AmeriCorps NCCC teams
to support regional competitions, and AmeriCorps VISTAs to expand FIRST
programming in underserved communities. CNCS will build on this
public-private partnership by investing $770,000 in AmeriCorps VISTA
grants, to be matched by FIRST and its partners. The 50 AmeriCorps
VISTAs will serve in more than 20 states across the country. More
information on the program can be found here.
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The
Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that
engages more than five million Americans in service through its
AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer
Generation Fund programs, and leads the President's national call to
service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.
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