Teachers’ Summer: Mickelson ExxonMobil Academy
Posted on October 19th, 2010 by ASEE
The Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy is a one-week all-expense-paid intensive professional development program in the summer for third- through fifth-grade teachers. The Academy offers a five-day program designed to provide third- through fifth-grade teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to motivate students to pursue careers in science and math. DEADLINE PASSED
Filed under: For Teachers, K-12 Outreach Programs | 1 Comment »
Tags: Competitions for Teachers, Corporations, Grades 3-5, National Science Teachers Association, Outreach, Professional Development, Summer Programs (Teachers)
Semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom will spend $6 million over six years to fund a new STEM competition, the Broadcom MASTERS, focusing on 6th, 7th, and 8th-graders. In its first year, Broadcom expects 7,500 students from 350 science fairs across the country will be nominated for the contest.
Hawthorne Math and Science Academy in Los Angeles is challenging the notion that inner city schools are too beset with urban problems to succeed. And, it’s doing so with help from major corporations. “It’s all about future workforce development!” says a Northrup Grumman coordinator. 
Engineering company Northrop Grumman provides a number of professional development and class resources for teachers, including the Weightless Flights of Discovery Program, which allows teachers to experience microgravity; the EarthWatch Educator Program where teachers participate in an expedition focused on climate change or oceans preservation; the Galileo Teacher Training Program, which involves workshops using telescopic investigations; and more.
The STEM Academy is a national non-profit education program designed to improve STEM literacy for students. The curriculum prepares students through comprehensive student assessment including traditional tests, project-based learning presentations, and portfolios. The Academy also offers a grant fund for high schools.
Defense contractor General Dynamics, facing an engineer shortage, has developed a program for developing young engineering talent. Eighteen seventh- and eight-grade students who have shown some math and science skills were selected for eCrew, which focuses on giving the students hands-on projects, like launching rockets and building working model cranes.
For this activity, which can be done with a partner school, student teams design a package for a single Pringles potato chip that allow it to be sent through the mail and arrive intact.
A bipartisan group of senators is pressing to give states a financial incentive to incorporate engineering education in K-12 curricula, letting them compete for grants from the U.S. Department of Education.
In 2006, Microsoft bet it could overhaul education using technical innovation, reform-minded teachers, and a $63 million investment. Over the past four years, its School of the Future, in Philadelphia’s Parkside district, has experienced real struggles. But now, all 117 seniors in the 2010, first graduating class will continue with some form of post-secondary education.
