The Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has announced a five-year, $3.2 million grant to establish the KC STEM Alliance, a new organization that will work to expand and enhance the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs in local middle schools and high schools.
Housed at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Computing and Engineering, the alliance will consolidate the management of two existing STEM programs that offer hands-on, project-based pre-engineering courses and extracurricular activities, Project Lead the Way and FIRST — streamlining program management and marketing, developing a universal evaluation strategy, and planning for the programs' lasting impact and sustainability. In partnership with regional industries, it will also coordinate funding, program operations, and volunteers and mentors to strengthen these and other STEM programs and make them available in more schools across the region.
While Project Lead the Way and FIRST receive state, federal, industry, and community funding as well as pro-bono support from local companies, the Kauffman Foundation has been a lead funder of the programs, investing nearly $5 million in them since 2005.
"With a vision to increase students' interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the KC STEM Alliance will encourage students to pursue careers in scientific and technical fields," said Kauffman Foundation president and CEO Carl Schramm, "which will lead to building a long-term, highly skilled workforce for the Kansas City community."
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