Why STEM Education is Important.

Recently, I wrote this letter to President Barack Obama.

While I didn’t receive a response, writing this letter inspired me. I want to create acommunity robotics program, as a way to give back to the community.

I created Discobots California, we’re a member of the Discobots Alliance between the Discobots from Houston, TX, and Brampton Robotics from Brampton, ON. We would like people to help us better the experience of STEM education for the generations to come, both locally and internationally. We launched a GoFundMe campaign, which you can find here: https://www.gofundme.com/29w4shks. We plan to use the funds raised to better the STEM education globally!

Here is the letter:

I’m Harrison Freni, a Junior attending Chadwick School, I was part of the #1 VEX robotics team in 2015, and I’ve helped start a few robotics teams. As a huge proponent of STEM education, I’d like to see the US come out on top of education in the entire world, but I have a few specific worries that I hope you consider to review and/or change. As of 2014, the US was ranked #20 in terms of educational attainment, a figure that, for the most powerful country on earth, should not be that low. When one takes a broad look at curriculum for the K-12 levels, one can notice a non-unified curriculum on the state level and between private and public institutions, which leads to some states struggling in terms of education. When one looks into STEM, one isn’t able to find much for K-6 students, and only a nominal amount of programs for High Schoolers. With almost 130,000 pre-collegiate educational institutions, one would assume that there would be at least 130,000 Robotics Teams, or even 130,000 STEM Courses, but in reality, this number isn’t even close to real. In the VEX Robotics competition, there are 10,000 Internationally, that is only technically 13% of all schools in the US. Additionally, education is the most underfunded of the US’s departments, that should change, educating the future citizens and decision-makers is far more important than funneling money into the military.

The White House Science Fair is a great way for you to see what’s going on in the world of STEM, but there also is a deficit, as only 30 projects get accepted each year, which is a shame, if more students would be able to participate and show off their ideas, there would be more coverage. However, the pros drastically outweigh the cons, since the students that participate gain insight into what some of the other young innovators of the US are up to. This has improved STEM education in the US, and it is continuing to do its part, but I think that due to the selectivity, and the lack of publicity about the Science Fair, it’s not truly pushing for the embetterment of education and improving STEM. While I commonly see amazing projects at the White House Science Fair, I tend to also see far too many biomedical research projects, and far too little projects attempting to overcome the deficit of STEM education in the United States.

The Educate to Innovate campaign seemed very promising in 2009, but it’s been 4 years, and I don’t think STEM has been introduced to 10,000,000 students, I’m very fortunate to attend a private high school, but even here, we barely have a STEM program. The government should continue to push for the acceptance of the Educate to Innovate campaign. From personal experience of contacting over 100 companies in the private sector — some of which are members of the Educate to Innovate campaign — to sponsor my robotics team, only three responded yes, the other 97+ said “We are not looking to sponsor at this time.” I think that if the program were to actually work well, the companies should be saying, “Yes, we’d love to sponsor your robotics team.” or even “Sorry, but we’ve sponsored too many robotics teams.” However, none of those are the case, and while not a direct governmental concern, there can be things that the government implements to help them achieve their goals.

There are a lot of things that need to be revised, and added to make STEM education possible. There are a deficit of ideas and products in Silicon Valley and an abundance of STEM jobs, and that’s a problem. In order for the US to advance in the STEM fields, jobs need to be filled by young, innovative thinkers, which is happening, but not at the rate at which it is productive. I personally have multiple solutions that one could take to the problem of STEM Education. Initially, you’d have to modify the budget to focus more on education, schools should be focusing on what students want to do, not on the level of universities, but rather with school-funded extracurriculars that are available for all students at all schools. Programs such as FIRST, VEX, and TARC should be available for all students, regardless of: socioeconomic status, race, gender, sex, or any other arbitrary form of alienation. Additionally, having Makerspaces at either public libraries, or at schools, would allow students to develop anything that they can put their minds towards. Additionally, the US could provide grants to push STEM education in the right direction, this would give robotics teams equal advantages, because trust me, the teams that have millions of dollars of funding always come out on top, which is unfair. Computer Science instruction in the US is on an upward trend, but it’s going to flatline soon, unless there are mandates to make a year of Computer Science, something as important as math or english, a requirement. Computer Science should also be included on K-6 levels, the ability to design a program that changes lives is extremely helpful, and some may say it’s life-changing. I do think that there is progress in gender integration in STEM fields, with programs such as “Girls Who Code” but there still needs to be some form of introductory course that allows those who’ve never experienced any form of STEM to gain interest. In the near future, if STEM education progresses, I’d imagine to see a 3D Printer and a CNC machine in each school, which would be impressive and crazy!

There are some things you can do to solve the deficit in STEM education, specifically, by implementing and mandating budget reallocations from less important areas, to focus on STEM and education in general. On top of that, the need for teachers is immense, and it’s a shame that so many people focus on getting money right out of college. There should be some support programs for those who have just graduated to get onto their feet and teaching. Having enough students that are educated to teach Computer Science, you’d be able to have even more smart, visionary innovators in the next 20 years. The current issue, is that most adults that hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, are able to get a 6 figure job straight out of college, whereas public school teachers make half of that on average. You can see where a fresh graduate would be more tempted towards a higher-paying job. To speak to that, you have to take a more fundamental look at America’s issues with materialism. Most Americans are after the “American Dream” which in the 21st century, is just another term for “American Greed.” It’s a fundamental flaw and blessing with the American lifestyle, while it provides for a comfortable lifestyle, one will always have the advantage over another, which makes it more likely for an american to become selfish, and not give back. A way to solve this, would be to create a more stable economy, in which everyone has the right to succeed. Additionally, another idea that pushes towards STEM education, is the American Ideal of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Specifically, if everyone was on their “Pursuit to Happiness,” they’d end up being far happier, and improving education helps the US advance towards a communal happiness, and gives all people, regardless of race, gender, or any other arbitrary factor, will give every person the liberty to live life in the way they want to.