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GTRI’s Food Processing Technology Division and Creekside High School Establish Partnership to Increase STEM Excellence in Student Performance
Written By Kristi Spivey
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GTRI’s Food Processing Technology Division (FPTD) recently partnered with Fulton County’s Creekside High School located in Fairburn, Georgia. The partnership will focus on increasing student performance in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related courses and activities. Creekside High School has developed a STEM Academy that focuses on preparing students for high-level STEM courses such as advanced math and science courses as well as STEM-related careers. This partnership seeks to foster those skills through several planned activities throughout the school year.
The activities will include a teacher workshop with FPTD researchers, science fair guidance from FPTD researchers, and involvement with the STEM Academy Advisory Board. The teacher workshop will provide teachers the opportunity to learn more about current FPTD research and will also serve as a forum for teachers to collaborate with researchers to develop real-world activities to incorporate into the existing curricula. The science fair guidance will allow FPTD researchers to provide guidance and industry expertise to students working on science fair projects related to FPTD research. Students will receive one-on-one guidance through the entire scientific process. The goal is to increase academic rigor and incorporate advanced and practical scientific investigation methods. The final portion of the partnership is the active involvement of researchers with the STEM Academy Advisory Board to provide industry knowledge and guidance to ensure the academic integrity of the STEM Academy.
FPTD is committed to fostering the understanding and application of STEM curricula components through the exposure of students in grades K-12 in the state of Georgia to the applied research activities within the division. The Creekside High School partnership is the pilot program that will serve as the template for FPTD‘s K-12 Education Outreach activities.