Why Support The America’s Future Scientists Fund?
Innovations in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are revolutionizing the way we live our lives at an unparalleled pace, which has inspired the STEM education movement in America.
The America’s Future Scientists Fund connects private corporations and foundations to a school system facing shortages and a lack of resources.
As budgets are cut in today’s school systems, the number of students seeking careers in STEM fields continues to plummet.
The Challenge
Many of these students face an eco-system of negativity around science and the power of being educated. Budget cuts, peer pressure, teachers intimidated by science topics, unsupportive parents and popular media drive this innate love of science out of these kids.
By the time they reach middle school, it’s too late. Being educated and interested in science has gone from natural enthusiasm to a social liability.
It is critical that we reach these vulnerable students when they are most receptive to our message, the elementary and middle school grades.
The Opportunity
Ask any teacher and you’ll find out that kids in early grades already love science. Their sense of wonder and enthusiasm for all things scientific is undeniable. In millions of elementary students lie the potential to change the world for the better. Study after study shows that it’s not innate intelligence that counts the most – it’s the support kids receive that increases the odds of each child reaching their potential.
An Eco-System of Support
By presenting science as an exciting adventure in the media language kids understand, we can create a “bridge” to carry young students through impressionable years, to higher education and beyond.
We’ll do this by:
- Developing and distributing standards aligned, multi-media (video, gaming, lesson plans) curriculum that is highly engaging, tailor made for classroom use and using media students love.
- Professional training for elementary teachers so they are less intimidated when teaching science
- Workshops for parents to better understand their role in supporting their kids so they reach their potential.
Our goal is to provide cutting-edge, complete curriculum systems and training to any teacher or parent who needs it with special emphasis on at risk youth.
Working with our corporate partners, we will create a supportive eco-system around these kids so, by the time they reach high school, their natural passion for science and being educated in general remains intact.
We are setting out to make school and learning fun while providing peer role models so kids can see that science is not a boring lecture – it’s an unbelievable adventure.