Tag Archives: STEM

When considering why young women are less likely to pursue a STEM career or education, a study by Microsoft may shed some light.

I recently took a road trip to California for the holidays. I passed through Silicon Valley, and boy was there some cool stuff to see–the most interesting thing? Well, aside from the Winchester Mystery House and people wearing scarves in 70-degree weather, I marveled at the sight of a 43 million-dollar public charter school campus being built into the side of a behemoth tech company. Oracle, a computer software company based out of California, is just finishing the construction of a new campus designated to Design Tech High School. The campus will be integrated into Oracle’s estate, placing 550 students and an enormous tech company in a shared proximity. Design Tech is a public charter school that emphasizes STEM courses and Stanford Universities’ design thinking. Now, it will act as a leading model for partnerships between technology companies and public education. Students at Design Tech will not only benefit from the brand new high-tech campus gifted by Oracle, but also from the opportunity for internships and mentoring from their neighboring organization. The price that Oracle is charging for rent? One dollar per-year. Even I could afford that with my allowance. While some are concerned that Oracle may exercise excessive power […]

I still need to learn how to add and subtract, but someday I may want to learn a lot more about math and science. A good place to look is the new Colorado Springs high school that has a special focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. In addition to a comprehensive high school curriculum, sports, and extra curricular activities, Vista Ridge High School offers several technology-based career academies: Engineering, Biomedical Science, and Information Technology. The engineering program is based on the Project Lead the Way curriculum, which is comprised of hands-on, real-world projects designed to make math and science relevant for students. The biomedical sciences program is also based on Project Lead the Way curriculum. Students will be introduced to many medical career possibilities through the classes they take. The information technology program will focus on networking and programming skills. The school is also piloting the school district’s 7-period modified block schedule. Students will attend seven classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday for approximately 48 minutes each. On Wednesday and Thursday, classes have an extended block of time, with half of the classes meeting on each day. A weekly advisory period and additional elective course will also meet on […]