So summer is over and it’s time to get back to school.  I took a break from WizSTEM for several reasons.  First, I got very discouraged with our school system when trying to find a good fit for our group.  I felt that they would be very interested if were offering to donate dollars.  But offering volunteers whose passion is STEM education was less interesting.

Second, a colleague who works at NIH told me of the number of PhD’s who couldn’t get funding to work on their projects.  Most of these researchers are young and working on their first or second projects.  Because they are essentially “unproven” the grant money goes to those who have a long track record for research.  This leaves many young doctorate grads. without jobs.  So he brought into question the validity of motivating students to pursue STEM careers if no jobs are available.

After reflection I’m still convinced that STEM is the right track for education.  To that end I will start as a Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee Board Member next week.  I am excited to be a part in helping to shape the curriculum of the Academies so that students can focus in on the STEM career of their choice.

I guess I realize I can’t change the world and make funding or jobs happen.  And I fully understand how the current economic conditions have made things look even more bleak.  But, if we don’t encourage children to pursue careers in STEM fields we will definitely lose young, great minds that are and have always been so instrumental in creating technological advancements.

Hopefully through small steps we can stimulate the minds of our children and encourage them to think more about science, technology, engineering and math.