What is STEM?

 is…

  • Science
  • Technology
  • Engineering
  • Math

…Education

JrTech is a leader in STEM education. For 6 years, we have brought together educators and local and national STEM industry leaders to educate 5-12 grade students in their fields. Our goals are to educate students in STEM fields, provide education and career-choice mentoring, and to prepare today’s youth for tomorrow’s workforce.  

STEM is not going away. It is not a fad or the buzz of the day. Everyone from state and national leaders to industry CEOs knows that STEM is critical to the success of our country to remain competitive in the world marketplace and to guarantee a strong economy. Our country’s economy cannot survive another generation of workers who are largely illiterate in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. 

STEM is everywhere from green energy to software development and from health care to studies of the ocean or space. We take out all the boredom and infuse a lot of fun and real-life applicability, encouraging and nurturing a life-long interest in the STEM fields. 

STEM education is vital for our future generation to remain competitive and marketable. With these critical STEM skills…

  • Broad-based critical thinking 
  • Problem solving
  • Innovating and Inventing
  • Analytical and logical thinking
  • Technological literacy

…Our next generation workforce will be able to navigate a rapidly changing work environment. And without them, they won’t. 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has set forth these goals for STEM education:

  1. Increase student interest in STEM areas
    • JrTech makes all areas of STEM fun and interesting. We engage students at an early age and, through mentoring and multi-course Achievement Certificates, are able to work with students as they develop a deeper interest in, and plan their high school courses around, STEM fields. 
  2. Improve preK-12 student achievement in STEM disciplines 
    • Our curriculum aligns with the state educational standards. All of our courses are designed to improve student achievement in school settings and on the MCAS exams.
  3. Increase percentage of college readiness in STEM fields with a focus on girls
    • Jr.Tech actively recruits girls into Jr.Tech by developing programming that is more interesting and relevant to their lives. Last year we held our first annual SciTech Girl Expo, which specifically reached out to girls, brought in women leaders in STEM fields and showed girls that STEM was not just a male-dominated field. By teaching real-life application to STEM fields, Jr.Tech helps all our participants to achieve college-readiness in these disciplines.
  4. Increase number of students who graduate college with STEM field degree.
    • Our interest is in increasing interest in real-life everyday applications to STEM disciplines. Many of our students have earned an Achievement Award, signifying completion of a series of courses in a particular field. These students are primed to attend college and graduate with a STEM degree.
  5. Increase number of STEM qualified teachers from preK through college.
    • Jr.Tech focuses on career modeling and mentoring. Our educators are current industry professionals with the most up-to-date sciences and technologies at their fingertips with which to teach our students. In addition to the multitude of STEM fields we showcase as possible career paths, that of “STEM educator” is also one of our options thereby preparing our students to be teachers in their fields as well.