For Immediate Release:
February 4, 2014
Contact: Amber Taylor
703-201-4893
Project Tomorrow
Named as Partner in 100Kin10, National Network to Grow STEM Teaching Force
Project Tomorrow’s
YouthTEACH2Learn Program Educates High School Students about Teaching Careers
Irvine, Calif. — Project
Tomorrow, a national
education nonprofit organization, is one of the latest partners of
100Kin10, a multi-sector network addressing the
national imperative to train 100,000 science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) teachers by 2021.
“Being selected as a 100kin10
partner will support our on-going efforts to help recruit new teachers in
California,” said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. “Our YouthTEACH2Learn
initiative is providing high school students the opportunity to learn about
teaching, and it is developing new pipelines for math and science teachers – a
perfect fit for 100kin10’s ambitious national goal.”
Project Tomorrow’s
YouthTEACH2Learn program
is a career exploration program where students gain first-hand experiences with
teaching as a career. During the high school or after school program, students learn
about teaching strategies and gain practical experience by developing and
teaching standards-based math and science lessons to younger students in
neighboring elementary schools. As Project Tomorrow is the host organization
for the California Future Educators Association, these young educators also
have the opportunity to pursue career development activities with peers in
after school chapter activities at their high school and in their
community.
As part of 100Kin10, Project
Tomorrow has committed to recruit 2,050 excellent STEM teacher candidates, with
25 percent of those new teachers coming from groups traditionally
under-represented in STEM, in California by 2018. Project Tomorrow aims to
achieve this goal by leveraging the organization’s innovative programming that
puts a focus on moving the starting line for teacher career development from
college to high school.
More and better-trained STEM
teachers are essential to prepare America’s students to fully participate in
our democracy and to understand and respond to complex national and global
challenges. To compete in the global marketplace and provide opportunity to all
young Americans, all students—not just
those fortunate enough to attend certain schools— must have basic STEM skills
and knowledge. Project Tomorrow is one of nearly 200 100Kin10
partners unified by a single, ambitious goal: to prepare all students with the
high-quality STEM knowledge and skills to equip them for success in college and
the workplace.
Organizations are accepted as 100Kin10 partners following a rigorous
vetting process conducted by a team of partner reviewers and the University of
Chicago. Reviewers are looking for organizations that bring innovation,
boldness, and a proven track-record to their commitment(s) toward expanding,
improving, and retaining the best of the nation’s STEM teaching force, or
building the 100Kin10 movement. A complete list of partners is available
on the
100Kin10 website.
As partners fulfill their ambitious commitments and work
together to spark innovation, they have access to exclusive opportunities—including competitive
research opportunities,
solution
labs, collaboration grants, a growing
research and learning platform, and a funding marketplace. Each of these is designed to foster collaborative problem-solving and support
partners in fulfilling their ambitious commitments.
In January 2014, 100Kin10 launched its third fund with $5
million and leadership from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, JPMorgan
Chase, and the Overdeck Family Foundation. To date, 100Kin10 funding partners
have committed more than $57 million in support of the work of the partners. Over $31 million has already been
distributed to partner organizations in 99 grants since the first fund launched
in June 2011.
In the first two years of the effort, 100Kin10 partners who
have committed to increase the supply of great STEM teachers have recruited and
prepared 12,412 teachers. They are projected to prepare just shy of 37,000
teachers by 2016, five years into the project’s ten-year timeline. The
network’s continued growth (through organizations such as those announced here)
will add to this total number. In addition, nearly 75 partners are working to
support and improve existing teachers so that more of them stay in the
profession, with the goal of over time reducing the need for so many new
teachers entering the workforce.
About Project Tomorrow
Project Tomorrow® is the
nation’s leading education nonprofit organization dedicated to the empowerment
of student voices in education. We
believe that by supporting the innovative uses of science, math and technology
resources in our K-12 schools and communities, students will develop the
critical thinking, problem solving and creativity skills needed to compete and
thrive in the 21st century. We approach our mission through national research
projects, the development of innovative career exploration projects in schools
and communities, online tools and resources for students, teachers and parents,
and national and regional advocacy efforts.
Learn more at
www.tomorrow.org.
About 100Kin10
100Kin10 is a multi-sector network that responds to the national
imperative to train and retain 100,000 excellent science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) teachers by 2021.
http://www.100kin10.org/
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