STEM or STEAM makes me excited because it exists in every facet of our universe. Through meaningful, hands-on, inquiry based interdisciplinary STEM/STEAM learning activities; students with various learning modalities are able to make sense of the world around them. I am excited for what our committee can do because their is still a lot of work to be done because:

• In California on average roughly 75% of our 1-4 students are only receiving 2.9 hours or less of Science instruction in their regular day classrooms (Vital Signs)
• In 2015 only 18% of 4th Grade African American and 17% of Hispanic American students were at or above proficient in Math (Vital Signs)
• In 2015 11% of 4th Grade African American and 12% of Hispanic American students were at or above proficient in Science (Vital Signs)
• In California, STEM jobs will continue to grow by 15% from 2017 to 2027 compared to only 11% for non-STEM jobs (Vital Signs)
• 71% of jobs in 2018 will require STEM skills (Girls Build LA Promise Fund)