SECTION II: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Provide a description of the proposed program. Limit narrative to a maximum of three pages.

This project exposes Martin County middle school students to STEM education and careers so important to establishing sustainable development in both our local and global economy and the improvement of food, textiles, energy, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. RAISE will provide hands-on collaborative STEM laboratory experiences and scientific literacy. RAISE will engage students in STEM applications important in sustainable development of local and global economies. RAISE will provide training for teachers to implement hands-on, minds-on STEM curriculum. RAISE will partner with Martin County Schools, community colleges and universities, Martin County 4-H and after school programs such as Its Your Move Now, Inc. to provide STEM opportunities. RAISE will form community partnerships with local STEM business resources and career mentors. RAISE will develop scientific literacy, enabling students to identify scientific issues underlying global, national and local decisions, expressing scientifically and technologically informed positions. The goals of the project include (1) RAISE will provide an extracurricular opportunity to explore biotechnology. (2) RAISE will be hands-on, career-based and involve real-world applications with a focus on laboratory investigation and scientific literacy. (3) RAISE will foster team-building skills; demonstrating that scientists do not solve problems in isolation, but as effective teams. (4) RAISE will understand the local and global economic impact of having more youth inspired to become scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. (5) RAISE will have a catalytic effect upon the school curriculum to provide STEM educational opportunities for teacher training, implementation of a more hands-on, minds-on curriculum and student involvement in extracurricular STEM initiatives. Students will complete 7 modules that will expose them to various agencies and businesses in the STEM industry, each module consisting of (1) site visit or guest presenter so students can see the business or industry and talk to possible career mentors; (2) hands-on, minds-on experiments associated with the scientific processes of the business or industry; and (3) a scientific literacy component involving data collection and analysis, STEM vocabulary and reflections. Students will read current literature (books, journal articles, etc.) associated with the global necessity of STEM education. Students will maintain a lab notebook for STEM experiments, literacy, and vocabulary. Students will create a digital story about their experience throughout the entire project. All of the aforementioned goals and expectations of the RAISE project are aligned with the Common Core Curriculum, the North Carolina Essential Standards, and the local and national accountability that has been placed upon educators to provide a skilled workforce ready to tackle the STEM problems facing our ever-growing resource-challenged populations. It is our expectations that students participating in the RAISE project will enroll in STEM courses in high school, seek opportunities for STEM summer enrichments through camps, universities, etc., will develop a more fluent STEM vocabulary and will compete in regional and/or state science competitions such as Science Olympiad, Science Quiz Bowl, Science Fair and/or NC Robotics Competition.