STEM Professional School Partnership Program - Science ATL
  • STEM Professional School Partnership Program

STEM Professional School Partnership

Science ATL’s STEM Professional School Partnership (SPSP) program cultivates strong, impactful, and sustainable partnerships between diverse STEM professionals and K-8 schools. The ultimate goal of these partnerships is to enhance access to STEM learning resources and careers for students from groups underrepresented in the STEM fields. The program matches 75 STEM professionals to 75 K-8 schools in Metro Atlanta for a year of monthly interactions, with the goal of reaching 10,000 students.

SPSP is made possible through corporate sponsorship and individual donations.
Special thanks to presenting sponsor, NCR Foundation!

NCR Foundation Logo

Program Info

For the 2024-2025 school year, Metro Atlanta STEM professionals will be paired with K-8 educators to initiate 8 in person interactions over the course of the upcoming school year. Together, the partners will become Catalysts – enabling reactions that might not otherwise have taken place – to expand STEM opportunities for students and provide real-world support for classrooms. Each partnership has the opportunity to apply for a minigrant to support partnership activities. Please note that this year’s partnerships will focus on Grades K-8.

To apply, review Participation Requirements below and then click the button to apply.

Participation Requirements

All STEM professionals and educators are required to:

  • Participate in required events:
    • August 29 – Virtual Information Session for selected applicants (6pm-7pm)
    • October 5- In Person Kickoff and Training Session (9am-3pm, Forest Park High School. Attendance is mandatory)
    • Monthly Virtual Meetings October – May.
    • October – Partnership Check-In Call (both partners and program manager)
    • December 13- Mid-year Survey and Minigrant applications due
    • February 14 – Partnership Check-In Call (both partners and program manager)
    • May 17 – In Person Closing Ceremony (3pm-6pm)
    • May 31- End-of-year Survey due
  • Commit an additional 4 hours per month from September to May to plan, implement, document, and reflect on monthly classroom or virtual engagements. These hours include regular monthly planning/reflection calls with your partner.
  • Communicate effectively and regularly with your partner.
  • Submit brief monthly activity reports and mid- and end-of-year surveys.

Please note that this year’s partnerships will focus on Grades K-8.

“I have had a wonderful time in this program and partnering with [our STEM Professional]. This program has brought so much joy back into my career by reminding me why I love engineering in the first place! “

“[Our STEM professional] has been an awesome partner! I’m grateful for what we’ve been able to implement this school year to continue to expose students to science concepts related to the brain.”

“I am so grateful to be apart of this program. I have gained a lot of valuable knowledge in the few months we have been working together. I look forward to a continued partnership with Science ATL as I continue to grow as a STEM Educator. Thanks for everything so far I am enjoying this process.”

The whole year was special! I love visiting the kids and exposing them to Civil Engineering. My most special experience was after the girls in STEM lesson this year. I asked the class what they learned and one girl responded with ‘that I can do anything’ and it was very heart warming.

“I can say that the partnership helped the school culture to bring a different aspect of STEM that we otherwise wouldn’t have had without that partnership. It really brought computer science and technology to the forefront with students. And with the teachers also, it expanded their horizon of different things that they could do with the content that they teach.”

“My kids were always asking when our STEM partner was coming in, and then constantly bringing up the activities that we did together in other conversations, especially when we were reviewing for Milestones.”

To Apply

Applications for the 2024-2025 SPSP cohort are now closed. Please check back next year for our next season, and check out the other opportunities we have with School and Youth Programs!

Program Web Links

Program Participants: We are thrilled to have you as part of our 2024-2025 Cohort! The workbooks for the program can be found here:

SPSP Year 1 Program Workbook

SPSP Year 2 Program Workbook

SPSP Year 3 Program Workbook

Here you can find the links to all of the documents and forms for the year.

Support
This program is supported by generous sponsorship from NCR Foundation, Cox Enterprises, and The Clorox Company. Special thanks to founding partner AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador Paula Garcia Todd.

Questions?
If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to contact AJ Chestnut Raines via email at aj@scienceatl.org.

Founded by: Emory University Georgia Institute of Technology Metro Atlanta Chamber

® 2024 Science ATL