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"STEM"ming the tide

4/13/2021

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Back in the beginning of February we learned that the historic "The Franklin" building would be the new home of state of the art robotics education. This was interesting news for the city of Franklin and the education partnerships in the surrounding areas. 

The 19th century building will become a place of innovation in the 21st century.

​Today  the Pennsylvania department of education allocated 10.8 million dollars to help expand Science, Technology,  Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives across the state.

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Part of Governor Wolf's PA Smart initiative, money will be distributed  to several areas to help expand access to computer science and STEM education. 
​Franklin will see $350 shy of a half a million dollars to put toward developing programs for education in schools throughout Northwest Pennsylvania.

PA Rural Robotics Initiative director Tim Heffernan hopes to draw the best and the brightest to the new opportunity zone style classroom in Franklin, but also put money into the classrooms. "We have 25 school districts currently," Heffernan said.

This grant money will be used to help teach teachers, provide opportunities to students  and facilitate learning through competitions and collaborations.

​Though, as Heffernan has said, it might seem odd that this level of technology will be developed in Northwest Pa., technology and robotics is huge in agriculture and the environment that directly affect this region.
Plus smart kids grow up everywhere, he said citing several of his past students. This initiative gives this area opportunities to play on the global stage.

Heffernan said that developing summer programming, after school opportunities and training for educators are the top of the priority list.

“The PAsmart initiative has established Pennsylvania as a nationwide leader in computer science and STEM learning,” said Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega. 

“While the pandemic placed a temporary halt in the distribution of PAsmart resources, we are pleased to announce that we are now able to provide these grant funds to schools that are doing great work to advance STEM programs in the commonwealth. The Wolf administration has continued to ensure our students are college ready as evidenced through the success of the PAsmart Advancing Grants.”
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​This announcement today was huge for the region and for STEM eduction in this corner of Pennsylvania,

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See more about the program's future from a story we did in February here: /8and322.weebly.com/eight--322/a-historic-future
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