Mar 25, 2019   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Science from Scientists Receives Support from The Cargill Foundation to Expand STEM Enrichment Education in Twin Cities’ Classrooms

Science from Scientists (SfS), a nonprofit dedicated to promoting achievement and excitement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in elementary and middle school students, has been awarded a three-year grant in the amount of $300,000 from Cargill, a global corporation headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With Cargill’s support, Science from Scientists will be expanding its during-school STEM enrichment and teacher professional development programs in the Twin Cities and will be developing additional program evaluation tools.

“We are thrilled to work with Cargill on this initiative. Their generous support allows us to expand our services in the Twin Cities and inspire thousands more young students to pursue STEM careers and trades,” said Dr. Erika Angle, founder and executive director of SfS. “In addition to helping further our mission, it is truly an honor to receive support from such an influential worldwide organization.”

The SfS during-school STEM enrichment program for 3rd through 8th grade students is unique in that it sends real STEM professionals into the same classrooms every other week throughout the school year to lead hands-on STEM lessons. The lessons are aligned with academic standards and chosen by teachers to complement their own curricula. When combined with teacher professional development, classroom teachers learn to teach the SfS lessons on their own over a period of time. The program has been shown to measurably improve student attitudes and aptitudes in STEM by tracking student scores on state science assessments and pre- and post-lesson quizzes and by collecting teacher and student feedback.

In addition to expanding the reach of SfS programs in the Twin Cities, the Cargill grant allows SfS to develop additional program evaluation measures of success, including measuring the program’s impact on whether students intend to pursue further education and/or careers in STEM as a result of program participation. Cargill employees also will have the opportunity to assist SfS instructors in the classroom and with the development of a new STEM lesson about food waste.

The overarching mission of The Cargill Foundation is to nourish and educate the next generation for success in school, work and life. The Foundation supports education and childhood nutrition programs in their Minneapolis headquarters community.

“We are proud to present our grant of $300,000 to Science from Scientists,” Katie Clark Sieben, Director of The Cargill Foundation, commented. “The Cargill Foundation is focused on furthering STEM literacy in K-12 classrooms and works to minimize the opportunity gap in the Twin Cities. We are proud to support Science from Scientists, which is working to build our future workforce, some of whom might one day be Cargill employees.”

To learn more about the work Science from Scientists is doing, please visit www.sciencefromscientists.org.

About Science from Scientists
A Boston-based national nonprofit, Science from Scientists (SfS) believes that by harnessing the passion of real-world scientists to teach state and national framework-compliant, hands-on, lab-based lessons in the classroom, we can build STEM talent in a cost-effective fashion with measurable results and meaningful impact. Science from Scientists’ mission is to teach and inspire the next generation to identify and solve real-world problems by improving STEM literacy. SfS sends real, charismatic scientists into classrooms and real-world settings to teach engaging lessons to ensure our youth is STEM literate.

About Cargill
Cargill’s 155,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive.

We combine 153 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture.

For more information, visit www.cargill.com.