Alcoa Foundation Pledges $25,000 to SAE International A World In Motion STEM Curriculum
WARRENDALE, Pa. (PRWEB) October 13, 2016 -- SAE International announces that the Alcoa Foundation has made a gift of $25,000 to SAE International’s A World In Motion® (AWIM) program to help provide hands-on, classroom-based STEM programming to Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students.
This grant will enable SAE International to impact 600 Cleveland students and teachers, providing project-based STEM programming that aligns with educational standards and teaches students not only critical STEM skills, but also how to work in teams and present and defend their ideas.
“The Alcoa Foundation’s generous and consistent financial and volunteer support has helped inspire curiosity in STEM for thousands of students in Cleveland,” said Lori Gatmaitan, Director, SAE Foundation. “We are grateful for the Alcoa Foundation’s commitment to STEM education and to their ongoing partnership with SAE.”
AWIM provides students with the skills needed to succeed in real-world work environments and helps connect their classroom learning with real-life application. During the program, students engage in the Engineering Design Experience, which includes setting goals, building knowledge, designing, building, testing and presenting their findings to an audience of peers and/or teachers. Much more than a math and science program, AWIM teaches students valuable lessons in critical thinking, project management, inquiry and analysis, communication and teamwork, while providing a well-rounded educational opportunity that instills a strong foundation of skills and knowledge needed to succeed in school and high-tech careers.
AWIM also provides professional development opportunities for Cleveland Metropolitan School District teachers. This initiative includes providing teachers with the training they need to effectively teach the curriculum, supplying all program materials and supplies to each participating classroom and giving each teacher the opportunity to have a STEM industry volunteer participate in the program.
“Alcoa Cleveland Operations’ employees thoroughly enjoy the opportunity A World In Motion gives them to engage with middle school students about the science that makes things go,” Said Cary Dell, Alcoa Foundation Coordinator. “These hands-on programs are so important in making classroom lessons real and showing it takes more than turning on the ignition to travel safely from point A to point B.”
The Alcoa Foundation’s strong commitment to the Cleveland community is exemplified in their support for the CMSD. Alcoa has been helping to provide the AWIM curriculum to students in the CMSD for more than a decade. The program originally began as a summer camp offering within CMSD, but quickly blossomed into support from the district’s science director and found its way into the scope and sequence of the CMSD science curriculum. In addition to funding support, Alcoa employees participate as volunteers in the classroom. Alcoa volunteers bring a passion and commitment to the classroom that makes an enormous impact on student learning and in student interest in becoming the next generation of STEM professionals. Since the early days of the partnership more than 5,000 CMSD students have benefited.
SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting over 127,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including programs like A World in Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™.
Shawn Andreassi, SAE International, http://www.sae.org, +1 (724) 772-8522, [email protected]
Share this article