$1M Alfond grant will help prepare Maine's 'STEM workforce of 2030'
Courtesy / Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance
The Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance plans to expand computer science education with the help of a $1 million grant. Here, educators take part in an alliance program.
The Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance — an Augusta nonprofit dedicated to increasing science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education — announced last week it received a $1 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation to expand computer science education in the state.
The money will go toward the alliance’s “STEM Workforce Ready Maine 2030” project, which is designed to create a network of teacher-leaders across Maine who are committed to integrating computer science learning in rural classrooms, according to a news release.
The three-year grant will allow the alliance to partner with rural educators to create lessons to inspire Maine’s today’s rural elementary and middle school students to become the STEM workforce of 2030.
STEM Workforce Ready Maine 2030 aims to train 100 rural educators and give 10,000 rural students access to foundational STEM educational experiences. The project aims to lay the groundwork for scalable computer science education reform in Maine’s classrooms.
"Maine has recently seen an influx of high-paying, STEM career opportunities in our state,” Ruth Kermish-Allen, the alliance’s executive director, said in the release. “What we are not seeing, however, is a workforce prepared for these jobs.”
A critical component in building capacity to meet STEM workforce needs is creating networks of capable, confident and inspired teachers in grades pre-K through 12, she said.
“The rapid evolution of technology has created a significant challenge for under-resourced rural schools, making it difficult to support teachers in introducing new content” such as computer science, she said.
Computer science education, and the professional learning that supports it, “must be continuously evolving in partnership with learners, educators, and representatives from local businesses in order to stay rigorous and relevant,” she added.
Greg Powell, the foundation’s chairman of the board of trustees, said, “We at the Harold Alfond Foundation recognize the importance of cultivating all students’ interest in the fundamentals of STEM as early as possible. Through this grant, we hope to set in motion a virtuous cycle of teachers training teachers how to make computer science and STEM exciting and accessible for students throughout Maine.”
In its 29 years, the alliance has developed many programs and has reached over 1,000 educators each year, and the annual number is trending upward.
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