FTC brings STEM to rural communities
In rural communities across the country, the access students have to top-notch science, technology, engineering and math is greatly lacking. According to the National Science Foundation, the average number of both math and science courses available to high-poverty and rural schools is about half that available at urban, suburban and low-poverty schools. To fill this need, more and more parents, educators, and community organizations are turning to the FIRST Tech Challenge to give their students a high-quality, hands-on, STEM experience. Rural Garner, Iowa, population 3,000, is no exception to towns struggling to provide quality STEM education to their students. While the high school there does offer some science and math courses, they, like courses in so many rural schools, are limited in scope and advanced placement classes are few and far between. Andrew, a freshman there, first discovered his passion for engineering in fourth grade, when he was invited to participate on ...