Classroom to College STEM Connection

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Since its inception, more than 4 million elementary and middle school students have participated in the A World In Motion program across North America. The AWIM program is also now delivered in several other countries around the globe through corporate collaborations.

Adequate Funding Base: Corporate donors - particularly auto related companies - have historically provided the majority of funding to the Foundation. In an effort to diversity funding sources, the Foundation's core strategies for 2011 are to 1) Seek continued support from this funding source, 2) Cultivate and solicit non auto‐related, STEM‐focused companies, 3) Increase funding from private foundations and, 4) Grow individual giving through the annual fund.

Cost of Program: In 2009 the distribution model for the AWIM program was also changed, as all curriculum kits were previously provided to educators at no cost. Kits are now provided at EITHER no OR low cost. In addition, the SAE Foundation and AWIM program staff now provides contractual services to other several organizations who have no STEM programming of their own, who use parts of the AWIM curriculum for a fee. This has resulted in a new revenue stream which helps to keep the cost of the program as affordable as possible.

Name recognition: At the height of market penetration, the AWIM program reached approximately 100,000 students annually with a traditional in classroom delivery model. Historically, the program's reach centered around geographically areas with the automotive industry is strongest. As a result, expanding the program into areas where local educators and corporations are not familiar with SAE or the AWIM program has been challenging. We are making progress in this area, however, as we implement some of the strategies listed above. In addition, as after school programming as become more important and accessible to reach and engage students in STEM subjects, an after school model is now offered. This provides more flexibility and an easier entry way into new geographical areas and opens up the possibility to collaborate with more diverse partners which helps the name recognition of the SAE Foundation and A World In Motion program.

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The SAE Foundation works with a variety or corporate partners to help them develop a STEM education outreach strategy that can be delivered locally, regionally, nationally, and even internationally. Many corporations provide general support to the SAE Foundation while others provide funding for specific initiatives such as the one described in this idea concept.

SAE also has a long history of collaboration and often works with similar, mission-aligned organizations that do not have their own curriculum, to help them to reach their target students with AWIM. For example, the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania utilize parts of the AWIM curriculum. in their elementary and middle school outreach program to enrich the STEM education experience for girls in Western PA.

Another initiative, a collaboration between SAE and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), is the Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK) academy. The SEEK Academy provides a FREE summer experience to minority students who are mentored by NSBE members through an accelerated, three-week AWIM curriculum. Approximately 4,000 under served students have been reached through the SEEK model since 2007 in Columbus, OH and Washington, DC. This summer SEEK academies also took place in San Diego and Oakland, CA.

Great Minds in STEM (formerly known as HENAAC), an organization that identifies, honors, and documents the contributions of Hispanic American professionals in fields as math, science, partners with the SAE Foundation to bring AWIM into resource-challenged middle- and high-schools in traditionally underserved communities across the country. Their Viva Technology program utilizes the JetToy Challenge to energize students about the possibilities that lie in the world of science and math.

Currently, the SAE Foundation is exploring the possibility of a national partnership with 4-H to reach students in underserved rural communities and is continually on the look out for partners to reach more students with AWIM to create science- and technology-literate elementary, and middle school students.

The AWIM curriculum being provided to schools in the Detroit Public School District is subsidized by a Detroit company foundation. The annual budget shown above represents the portion of that company's donation that goes annually towards distribution of the AWIM program nationally, as well as locally through their community based outreach.