OrthoWorx Supports Major Education Initiative
OrthoWorx announced today that it is supporting a major initiative to enable all schools in Kosciusko County to implement Project Lead The Way’s S.T.E.M. education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum in grades K-12.
Project Lead The Way, a nationally known S.T.E.M. education non-profit organization, recently offered five northern Indiana counties an opportunity to have local funds for PLTW implementation matched by a national funder. Under the program, Project Lead The Way would provide its project-based learning curriculum to schools, train teachers and provide materials and ongoing support for educators related to STEM.
The Orthopedics Capital Foundation, which provides philanthropic funding for educational and charitable aspects of OrthoWorx initiatives, and the Kosciusko County Community Foundation agreed to provide the Kosciusko County match. All schools in the county will be given the opportunity to implement new PLTW programs under the initiative.
“Project Lead The Way is a known leader in S.T.E.M. and this is a tremendous opportunity to build on our existing emphasis on S.T.E.M. and project-based learning in our region,” said Sheryl Conley, OrthoWorx president and CEO. “We believe, as they do, getting kids engaged in ways that are relevant to them is a key to the prospect for long-term student success — especially in math and science, which is critical for our region.
“Almost every job in the orthopedics industry today is a S.T.E.M. job,” added Conley, “and the same is true of many other life sciences industries critical to our region such as agriculture and health care.”
In May 2013, OrthoWorx announced that it would support a second year of S.T.E.M.-focused learning at the Washington Elementary S.T.E.M. Academy within the Warsaw Community Schools. Through the Orthopedics Capital Foundation, OrthoWorx also committed $300,000 toward the school corporation’s Moving S.T.E.M. Forward plan, which will provide a strategic roadmap for S.T.E.M. education through all grades and will help create a S.T.E.M. Mobile Learning Laboratory that will be used by all the corporation’s schools.