Feature: The UnCommission Project
Whether it's climate change, food shortages, or economic inequality, almost all the world's most pressing problems require STEM (science, tech, engineering, and math)-based solutions. Yet only a tiny fraction of our population has the STEM knowledge to even be at the table solving them. So it's no surprise we haven't solved these challenges yet.
To solve them, we need all of tomorrow’s problem-solvers to be equipped with STEM skills and inspiration. And tomorrow’s problem-solvers need excellent STEM teachers today to guide them. In his 2011 State of the Union, President Obama issued a call for adding 100,000 excellent STEM teachers to our nation’s schools over the coming decade.
100Kin10 emerged in 2011 to activate the country to respond to that urgent call and to accelerate and coordinate the resulting effort. With 28 founding partners, today 100Kin10 brings together over 280 of the nation’s top academic institutions, nonprofits, foundations, companies, and government agencies to train and retain 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over 10 years. With those organizations taking the lead, we aim to fuel the next generation of innovators and problem solvers.
A few months ago, folks from Beyond 100K reached out to me to share my story. I talked about my experience growing up in the classroom and how alienating it would feel. Through my education journey, I’ve become empowered along the way and am now an educator advocating for Indigenous students on their educational journeys.