On February 27, 2018, Dr. Brenda Hellyer, Chancellor at San Jacinto Community College in Pasadena Texas, stressed the importance of K-12 STEM partnerships and their impact on creating a talent pipeline in her testimony for the U.S. House of Representatives Energy Subcommittee Hearing: State of the Nation’s Energy Infrastructure.
“Closing the gap will require that multiple entities begin working together to understand the needs and ensure that applicable, highly-sought after skills are being taught to students. Through these partnerships, we can create a talent pipeline to enable graduates to move into rewarding careers, and also provide industry with a knowledgeable workforce, ” stated Hellyer. Click here for the full testimony.
Among many of their outstanding programs and activities, “outreach STEM events have exposed more than 18,000 pre-college age students to the world of STEM by partnering with Mind Trekkers from Michigan Technological University for a two-day STEM festival that brings experiments to local elementary schools and the community, and invites students to serve as judges for local school science fairs. The festival is sponsored by numerous industry partners including Dow Chemical Company, INEOS, Chevron Phillips, Austin Industries, LyondellBasell and PetrochemWorks. Dow has also donated $10,000 for San Jacinto College to create STEM kits for area schools that lost classrooms due to Hurricane Harvey.”
Michigan Tech is proud to be partner of San Jacinto Community College and all its efforts to advance learning, scholarship, and inspiration in tomorrow’s leaders.
For more information on Michigan Tech’s Mind Trekkers, please visit www.mindtrekkers.mtu.edu.
