Maryville University has been awarded $70,000 from Boeing to continue its partnership in providing STEM programming for under-resourced schools.
Grant funding will enable Maryville’s Center for Access and Achievement (CA2) to support after-school STEM clubs in six partner school districts throughout North St. Louis County: Ferguson-Florissant, Ritenour, Jennings, Riverview Gardens, Normandy and Hazelwood.
Through the FutureSTL program, teachers in the six partner districts attend Maryville’s STEM Education Certificate program, a 75-hour, tuition-based course designed to reinforce and build their STEM instructional skills. The course originated in 2016 through an initial grant from Boeing.
Teachers in the six designated districts complete the STEM Education Certificate with scholarship support provided by Boeing and additional partners. To receive scholarships, the teachers agree to become STEM Champions in their individual schools—offering after-school STEM Clubs to their students for at least 20 hours during the school year.
More than 100 teachers from Maryville’s partner school districts have completed the program, and more than 40 are currently STEM Champions—impacting approximately 600 K–12 students annually. The new grant from Boeing will help increase the number of STEM Champions and provide STEM Club involvement for up to 750 students annually.
STEM skills remain foundational to students’ success in school and throughout their lives. In addition to hosting after-school STEM Clubs, STEM Champion teachers use classroom time to provide engaging, real-world problem-solving activities, and help students prepare for post-secondary study and envision future careers in these high-demand fields.