Gadsden County school district is working to increase exposure to STEM careers

• Demand for jobs in STEM fields in Florida has increased by more than
  63%.
• Gadsden County is working to get their students more opportunities to learn about STEM careers.
• Watch the video to see what they are doing.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Showing kids different careers in stem as the demand for jobs in STEM Fields in Florida has increased by more than 63%.

I’m Ashley Engle your Quincy neighborhood reporter. Many students here in this neighborhood do not have access to stem education. I’m checking to see what school’s leaders and other neighbors are doing to give students that opportunity.

STEM

"They're just curious about it, they just want to know more."

Knowing more about, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Dr. Renee Gordon is Tallahassee Community College’s STEM Program Director

"As a kid a was always curious wanting to pull things apart see how things work and put them back together."

Dr. Gordan says exposing kids at a young age to stem opportunities is needed.

"If a student is not exposed to it then they don't know if they can do it as far as their career goes."

TCC was able to show over a hundred students from Gadsden County what stem is all about this month.

"Relationship and partnership we have with TCC, they gave us the opportunity to bring our students over and introduce them to stem activities."

Superintendent Elijah Key says students were able to experience things like 3d printers and learn about different careers in STEM.

Right now, Gadsden County does not have a stem school and many students don't know what stem entails.

"It's all about getting it started in Gadsden County. The kids are excited when they're at TCC. They're excited to see what their seeing."

I checked out an online job site and it says the average salary for a stem career in Tallahassee is a little over $122,000 a year.

For the school district to bring stem to the students, funding is a factor.

"There's a major cost when you start talking about stem. However, there's money and grants things of that nature that you can apply for that will help you become a stem school."

Key says there have been conversations to bring stem to the schools and becoming a stem school to give the students more resources.

Resources that Dr. Gordon encourages students of all ages to give a try.

"We want students to develop a love for stem. If they have it, we want to encourage them to not be fearful of challenging content. It’s going to take some time to figure it out, but you can do it."

TCC says they will be having a free stem summer camp. They say students from Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla can participate. I’ll have more information about the summer camp linked to this story on our website at wtxl.tv. In the Quincy neighborhood I’m Ashley Engle, ABC 27.

TCC STEM SUMMER CAMP INFORMATION