STEAM Outreach and Inspiration

In April, the chapter welcomed Dan Jones, CEO, Beyond Horizons Space Consulting and SparkConnect Inc., who shared insights on passion, leadership and communication gained during his military and corporate careers. He shared a current project with a local high school where students develop a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) business plan and resourcing for a middle school project curriculum, and once approved by the middle school, implement it. This teaches life and academic skills to both the high school and middle school students, fostering creativity and mentorship. Jones is also the founder of Wormhole-STEAM, a collaborative Web-based platform to share and leverage STEAM events and opportunities between business, community and academia. The chapter also awarded a $1,000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) grant to Gülen Hicks, founder, chief financial officer and teacher at Arizona College Prep Academy (ACPA). Hicks shared ACPA's mission of providing innovative education and academic opportunities to low-income students, most of whom will be the first in their families to pursue higher education. The grant will support various software suites for math, engineering and computer science classes to connect academically rigorous topics to real-world applications and prepare students for postsecondary education. A second $500 grant was awarded to Mansfeld STEM Magnet Middle School's robotics club program.

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