Des Moines' Hoover High Named A STEM Best School

DES MOINES, IA — Nineteen high schools in Iowa were selected recently to be partners in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education partnership, and Des Moines' Hoover High School was among those chosen. The designation came from the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council.

Hoover is home to the district's STEM Academy, a school-within-a-school. The STEM BEST (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) partnership will allow schools to work with organizations and businesses that provide educations programs in the STEM fields, from information technology and bioscience to manufacturing and finance, according to information on the district's website.

“STEM BEST fosters an environment where communities match the needs of the local workforce to the skills students learn and gain in the classroom,” said Accumold President and CEO Roger Hargens, co-chairman of the STEM Council. “Creating these school-business partnerships is a key priority of the STEM Council with the belief that they will meet the STEM career demand in their communities and shape the future of Iowa’s economy.”

Maureen Griffin, school improvement leader and STEM administrator at Hoover, said the award "will afford 52 internship opportunities for students over the next two years, provide teacher professional development from content experts at the university level, (and) many other exciting professional learning opportunities.”

From 2014 through 2016, the STEM Council established 18 STEM BEST partnerships. “Iowa companies must be able to hire enough skilled workers so they can grow and innovate, and more Iowans deserve to have the skills needed for rewarding careers,” Gov. Kim Reynolds, who also co-chairs the STEM Council, said in a news release. “Through STEM BEST, educators and business leaders work together with students to strengthen Iowa’s talent pipeline and close the skills gap. STEM BEST is one of many programs that promise to help reach our Future Ready Iowa goal of 70 percent of Iowa’s workforce having education or training beyond high school by 2025.”

The 19 new STEM BEST Partners were chosen from 31 proposals that considered factors like education driven by industry need; rigorous, relevant and dynamic STEM curriculum; and authentic partnerships. The schools receive a 50 percent cost sharing grant to be used for equipping modern collaborative workspaces and training educators in workplace-classroom integration.

The only other metro-area program chosen by the council comes from the Ankeny school district.

Image via Des Moines schools