STEM students excel in corporate programs.

• Author: Miller, Cynthia D.
• Position: STEM NEWS

Companies that have invited science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) inclined students to participate in formal workplace programs over the years have had such positive experiences that some are now housing education programs at their facilities.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

GE Consumer and Industrial's lighting business in East Cleveland, Ohio, is one such firm, and in 2009 the [MC.sup.2] STEM High School opened its doors on the company's Nela Park campus.

Sonya Pryor-Jones is executive director of the Metropolitan Cleveland Consortium ([MC.sup.2]) for STEM, a partnership between Cleveland area school districts, colleges and universities, corporations, and the city's cultural, public and philanthropic institutions. The Cleveland Hub is one of five state-wide regional hubs that form the Ohio STEM Learning Network, a program managed by Battelle and co-funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Cleveland Hub consists of the [MC.sup.2] STEM High School as well as the Design Lab Early College High School, and was formed to create innovative teaching and learning opportunities for students across the region and to impact the work force's retooled and emerging industries, said Pry-or-Jones. She describes the design of the Hub's education model as being aimed at "galvanizing people around a desire to change education in a big way."

Students who have graduated from 8th grade apply online and are selected by lottery. The 170 students attending the [MC.sup.2] High School range from those who have not yet found their niche courses of study to those who are at the top of their classes.

"GE was the first corporate partner to embed the school's 10th grade students on their campus, with the Great Lakes Science Center embedding the school's 9th grade students this year," said Pryor-Jones. "The sustainability of our model depends on the working relationship and engagement with the Hub's partners," she said. "Creating transferable skills from the classroom to the work force is our main objective. It's less about stats, more about culture."

Teachers facilitate trans-disciplinary projects that combine the STEM disciplines, social studies, visual art, English language arts and Mandarin Chinese with real-life business, technical and scientific challenges.

Principal Jeff McClellan described a...