Robotics, Internships & Career Exploration
Strengthening STEM Education through Collaboration
The Minnesota STEM Ecosystem is partnering with High Tech Kids to support the expansion of high school FIRST Tech Challenge teams across the state and facilitate STEM career exploration and STEM internships with our learning partners.
What We’re Doing
>> Lean Curriculum to introduce young people (students) to STEM careers, customizable with place-based labor and career information.
>> A Robotics career-pathway with a foundation in engineering and advanced manufacturing.
>> Supporting more than 50 micro-internships introducing students to STEM industry-partners and STEM project-based work; and 50 immersive internships engaging students in “real world” hands-on experiences with STEM-based employers.
>> Developing new robotics teams across the state, with an emphasis on underserved and historically marginalized populations.
Our Partners
High Tech Kids delivers fun, hands-on STEM programs and events that inspire Minnesota youth to BUILD confidence, CREATE opportunities and THRIVE as the next generation of innovators. High Tech Kids collaborates with FIRST as the Minnesota Program Delivery Partner for FIRST LEGO League Explore, FIRST LEGO League Challenge and FIRST Tech Challenge. High Tech Kids has served more than 79,400 students across the state, with the help of over 3,700 volunteers.
The Minnesota State Engineering Center of Excellence facilitates relationships by engaging academic institutions with industry and provide educational outreach by inspiring interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our belief is that these efforts will shape the next generation of engineers who will solve real-world problems. We also work to foster accessibility to the latest technologies, workforce programs, and post-secondary education.
The Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence works closely with Minnesota technical and community colleges to develop resources that are effective and deliver education that meets the needs of the industry. We do this through outreach, development of resources, and developing ongoing solutions to support manufacturing education contributing to industry needs.
The Southeast Service Cooperative serves school districts, cities, counties, and other organizations in the 11-county southeast region of Minnesota. It is home to the STEM Forward program promoting STEM excellence in our K-12 schools and the award-winning Future Forward program connecting students, educators, and employers in experiential learning opportunities.
The Lakes Country Service Cooperative serves school districts, cities, counties, and other organizations in the 9-county west-central region of Minnesota. LCSC is home to MN CTE, a statewide center for CTE teacher pedagogy, preparation, and mentoring through programs like Teach CTE™ and CTE TIP™ focused on CTE teacher recruitment and retention.
