State Representative Dan Swanson joined Governor Bruce Rauner in welcoming the announcement today that 25 Illinois elementary and middle schools have been awarded a three-year Bicentennial STEM Fusion Program, the Illinois Math and Science Academy’s (IMSA) renowned teacher development training initiative for math and science including Galva Junior/ Senior High School in the 74thDistrict
“For Galva Junior/ Senior High School to be honored with this curriculum in recognition of the work they are doing is fantastic,” said Rep. Swanson. “We need to prepare our students to compete on a global scale and this can only help them with best practice curriculum to achieve those goals.”
More than 100 schools applied for the 25 Fusion programs made available through the Bicentennial. The 25 schools selected serve predominately underserved populations who demonstrated a commitment to embedding IMSA Fusion into their curriculum and presented a sustainability plan to carry the program forward after the three-year award period expires. STEM training is considered critical to work in the future. Seventy other qualifying schools will receive a one-year curriculum.
“IMSA is pleased to be leading the charge to continually innovate K-12 STEM education, creating a strong and diverse talent base through turnkey STEM curricula and student enrichment through our flagship Fusion program,” commented Illinois Math and Science President Dr. Jose Torres.
The entire program was privately funded. Abbott and Wintrust Bank are the co-presenting sponsors. Additional funding for this campaign was provided by Boeing, Ingredion, Motorola Solutions, Nicor Gas and Takeda.