The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation has partnered with Constellation Energy’s Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center to install a brand new STEM Center at Southern Middle School in Calvert County, Maryland. The initiative is designed to inspire Calvert County students in STEM by transforming the classroom into an interactive hub for hands-on learning in coding, robotics, and 3D printing.
A ribbon cutting ceremony held to celebrate the opening was attended by students, educators, and community members, who shared in the excitement for the new space. “This project provided a great opportunity to give back to the youth of our local community,” said CJ Smith, a plant manager at Calvert Cliffs. “These are students who will one day make up our very workforce here the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center. We hope the new STEM Center will provide a unique and exceptional learning experience for students now and for years to come.”
Careers in STEM are rapidly growing and offer more earning potential, and most careers today require STEM skills at all levels of employment to navigate the modern world. The Foundation sees the STEM education gap as an opportunity to apply key lessons from sports (teamwork, respect, communication, and resilience) to the classroom. “We believe every child deserves the opportunity to explore, create, and dream big,” said Joe Rossow, Ripken Foundation EVP of STEM. “The new Center, made possible through generous support of Constellation, will open doors for students to develop the skills they’ll need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
In 2016, we launched the Ripken Foundation STEM initiative to provide underserved elementary and middle school youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods the opportunity to participate in STEM activities. Today, we have 776 fully operational, turnkey STEM programs in 26 states and Washington, D.C., impacting over 320,000 kids with the help of over 18,500 teachers, educators, and mentors. Each STEM Center comes with technology and furniture packages, educational STEM products with activities, elementary and middle school lesson plans, educator training, ongoing program and technical support, and an opportunity to participate in the Ripken Foundation National STEM Challenge.
Read more about this partnership in The Southern Chronicle. To learn more about our STEM Center Initiative, click here.
