Education & Workforce Development

When I was a young boy, I spent hours, even days, playing with erector sets, which consisted of little metal beams, nuts, and bolts (and later, pulleys, gears, and small electric motors). Basically, you could construct anything your mind came up with, tear it apart, and create something new and completely different. And you didn’t have to make something stationery — with the little motors, you could create things like windmills or planes. I’ve built automobiles, towers, homes, and more.

AEG’s LA Galaxy, adidas, Major League Soccer and Parley for the Oceans have united today to raise awareness around the harmful impact of marine plastic pollution with the unveiling of adidas MLS Parley club jerseys. The kits—each made from technical yarns containing Parley Ocean Plastic™—will be worn by both teams Sunday, April 23, in conjunction with Protect the Pitch Day, when the LA Galaxy host Seattle Sounders FC at StubHub Center.

For years, children in the northern region of Mexico’s Sinaloa state had no real place to learn. Teachers would move from one house to another, or cram their young students into a tiny room measuring 6m x 4m – with no furniture, no power, no running water and no washrooms.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known collectively as STEM, are essential for inventions that we bring to life. It’s easy to imagine that technology will always get better, faster and cheaper – but without disruptors, scientists and engineers, our culture of creative innovation would not exist. We must lead the next generation of great thinkers and inventors by showing them the possibilities that lay before them in areas such as robotics, connected cars, IoT and 5G. Our STEM education efforts are helping to do just that and more.

Tetra Tech’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Program aims to help students at all levels—from kindergarten to graduate school—develop an interest in these four technical fields. The program launched in 2016 as part of the company’s 50th Anniversary, and employees around the world hosted events that reached more than 5,800 people from 5 countries.

When Promise Agbo, 17, was 6 years old, her father would often take her outside to look at the stars in the sky. Ten years later, she accepted an internship at NASA where she was able to work on the Mars Mission. Her idea: a hybrid spacecraft that once deployed would break off into a satellite and land rover. Her idea was so good it was presented to the NASA administration.

It’s 2017, so you might imagine that in the United Kingdom, all citizens have access to technology. Sadly, that’s not the case, but the government is working to change that with a five-year plan.

The FIRST Michigan robotics state championship [took place] at Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday, April 15, and Consumers Energy sponsor[ed] its efforts.The competition brings together students interested in STEM-based careers–those with interests in science, technology, engineering and math. A total of 160 teams will be competing in Saginaw for the opportunity to advance to the world competition, set to be held in St. Louis, Missouri later this month.

According to ‘Advancing Your Frontline Workforce With Employer-Sponsored Education Benefits,’ a white paper recently published by GED Testing Service, almost 40 million working adults in the U.S. lack a high school diploma: “for millions of Americans, especially those who fill entry-level and frontline jobs, the lack of a high school diploma is an insurmountable barrier to taking advantage of these popular reimbursement programs. Thankfully, workers who have not completed high school are not without hope.”

How do you design art that illustrates the importance of recycling in a universal language? In a place like Grand Teton National Park, where there is opportunity to impart teachable moments on visitors from around the world, Jackson Hole High School students are tackling this challenge.