Snohomish STEM Network receives significant Boeing grant

23 Aug 2021


Grant helps guide local students towards STEM-focused careers

Snohomish STEM Network is a newly named recipient of a significant Boeing grant. This funding will be used to expand awareness of existing jobs and educational pathways that lead to STEM-focused careers.

Snohomish STEM Network, an arm of Economic Alliance Snohomish County, will partner with the Monroe School District to increase access to Career Connected Learning experiences creating awareness for students to enter high demand STEM careers. This partnership will help expose students to local industry careers and inspire youth to pursue careers in their community.

“Believing wholeheartedly in the importance of providing powerful opportunities for students to engage in STEM activities, we are excited to partner with industry experts who can bring these experiences alive in our Monroe Schools,” said Dr. Fredrika Smith, Superintendent Monroe School District.

In a recent county-wide study, community schools indicated a high desire to increase STEM-focused Career Connected Learning opportunities for their students. The Boeing grant will allow Snohomish STEM Network to comprehensively address this community need through the implementation of STEM Like Me! and Business After the Bell.

In STEM Like Me!, 8th grade students will learn how four STEM professionals from various industries found their career path. Following the panel, the students will have hands-on experiences related to the professionals’ STEM career.

In Business After the Bell, 9th grade students and educators will visit local businesses to see industry in action. In addition to the facility tour, students will be presented with hands-on tasks. This program is designed to create awareness of Snohomish County’s high-demand STEM sectors.

The goal of this project is to provide students with an understanding of the varied pathways leading to jobs and how they can shape their own path to fill open jobs in Snohomish County. In turn, industry creates relationships and identifiable pathways for local students to their specific company or industry – contributing to their future workforce pipeline and the strength of our collective future workforce.

“Our local industries have an outstanding opportunity to easily engage and inspire learners through this program. Students are provided equitable opportunity for exposure to a variety of industry sectors at an opportune time with 740,000 jobs to fill statewide between 2016-2021.” said Angie Sievers, Snohomish STEM Network Director.

Cross-sector industry panels consistently identify workforce as being a top priority for growing or doing business in our region. The same groups self-identified Career Connected Learning within local K-12 systems as being a high-priority solution to their workforce issues.

These programs are scalable and designed to be implemented by other school districts beyond the project defined above. The Snohomish STEM Network strives to provide awareness, exploration, preparation, and work experiences developed through strong public and private partnerships.

About Snohomish STEM Network
Snohomish STEM is a collaborative effort of early learning, K-12, higher education, business and community organizations to further Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) experiences for students in our region. The work of Snohomish STEM is supported by Economic Alliance Snohomish County (EASC). EASC is a non-profit serving as a combined economic development organization and countywide chamber of commerce.