(Spirit Lake)– Iowa’s STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics initiative is getting a big boost. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says the program has been awarded a federal grant…(click here for comment.) “We’re really excited about that. We worked really hard on that. It’s for $1.2 million from the National Science Foundation. And the really great part about this is we use assessments and evaluations to make sure that we’re using the appropriation because we received a very, very generous appropriation from the Legislature, $4.7 million; we’re asking for status quo this year. But I want to be able to demonstrate to parents, educators and to business and industry and the general assembly that we’re utilizing those dollars in a very efficient and effective manner. And so this grant will really allow us to put a great evaluation piece together so that we can thoroughly vet the progress and the programs. And we really have a good base started already so we’ve got a foundation to know where we started and this will be able us to monitor it going forward and see how much progress we are making.”
Reynolds made the comment during a stop in Spirit Lake earlier this week.
