• Decisions about what the ecosystemwould do and how it would operate were carefully planned with buy-in from the communities by engaging with TIES to survey cross sector stakeholders and bring representation from each sector together for design studios to set goals and agree on common goals. • Key thought partners, including LEGO Education, Microsoft, Code.org, Woz Education, and others have enabled the ecosystem to amplify its work by building capacity. • STEM2 Hub opportunities now regularly reach over 100,000 students in the Jacksonville region through school districts and partnering organizations, spanning from the heart of the urban core to some of the most challenged rural areas in the state. • Over 75,000 students participated in the Hour of Code in December 2018 through district-wide support led by school superintendents. Now computer science is available in 100 percent of the high schools in the region, and in many of the middle schools and junior high schools. • Computer science, through robotics and coding, is being infused into the elementary school media centers in over 50 schools by building capacity in the media teacher, impacting nearly 50,000 students across the schools.
• STEM2 Hub “demonstration schools” are being developed around the region, accelerating exposure by bringing STEM learning into the core academic areas. • Grade-level specific STEM programs are being developed and brought on the road through outreach from the local science museum, bringing a consistent experience to all corners of the region, impacting almost 10,000 students each year. One district has developed a mobile STEM van to bring additional experiences to some of the most rural areas of the ecosystem, allowing for equitable access, and will impact over 10,000 students this year. • This work is empowering students to build the critical thinking skills needed to succeed and lead in a technology rich economy through engagement with computer science, coding, robotics, drones, agrisciences, cybersecurity through science, math, and engineering, in the context of STEM coursework and out-of-school opportunities.
CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO At their core, Acosta and STEM2 Hub are stories of an intense determination to challenge the status quo. From its potentially lucrative deal with an egg farm to the fact that it has put robots in the hands and minds of nearly 100,000 students in afterschool and in-school programs, STEM2 Hub is achieving its mission of accelerating the growth of STEM education and careers. Chartrand and his belief in the power of big ideas, his ever-present smile, his willingness to challenge the status quo and his fundamental belief in the power of education are at the heart of why STEM2 Hub has been able to develop a regional understanding of the power of STEM, create unique opportunities for all students and ensure students throughout Northeast Florida have meaningful experiences with computer science and robots. SHARING THE AMERICAN DREAM “I worked hard at my business andwe ended up being successful and I had a lot of good fortune as well, and I felt like I had the opportunity to live the American dream,” he said. But Chartrand, his wife, Nancy, and his two children, recognized that others aren’t as fortunate.
Chartrand knows that many kids don’t have the opportunity to live the American dream because of societal challenges, poverty and limited educational opportunities or examples. He said, “I felt extremely blessed to be able to live the American dream and I wanted to try to create that for more kids.” BEFORE THE LIGHTBULBS BURN OUT With support and encouragement from his family, who share a passion for education, it was Chartrand’s idea to launch STEM2 Hub in 2015. And years later, he still remembers the “elevator speech” he used to coax others into joining efforts to create the ecosystem: “’There’s a huge gap in making sure that we expose our children to the STEM field. And we’ve got to do it by the fifth grade because that’s when the lightbulbs go off.’ There’s going to be a million STEM jobs opening up in the United States; we’re at 27,000 open jobs in Florida right now; we’re not preparing our kids for the 21st century and I think we need to do something about it.’” Chartrand and his teamwere successful bringing together key leaders, including representatives from business, education and non-profits to partner to improve education for children in the Jacksonville, Fla. area both in and out- of-school. The initial group included a handful of business leaders, who each made a financial contribution to help launch the ecosystem.
CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO
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