STEM Awards Finalists Announced-Connecting Education and Industry
Canton, GA (August 11, 2015) Having recently been recognized as having an innovation economy by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED) is taking care to continue to drive the aspects of our county that earned Cherokee that title. One of those aspects was the quality of talent readily available to fill technical and innovative positions. These talented people are available because Cherokee takes pride in raising a well-prepared workforce from the elementary level and beyond in promoting and supporting programs such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education. This is one way that education and industry intertwine.
“Collaboration has always been a priority of COED. Whether it be with our municipalities, our industries or our schools,” said Marshall Day COED Chairman. “It is because of this mindset that we jumped at the opportunity to nominate our Cherokee County schools for The Georgia STEM Education Awards.” With the help of the Cherokee County School District (CCSD), COED was proud to nominate a school in every available category. When the finalists for the awards were announced, COED was thrilled to see that Cherokee had four finalists named, two of which were nominated by COED. The finalists include Canton ES STEM Academy, Clark Creek ES STEM Academy, Teasley Middle School, and Creekview High School.
As COED looks to the future of Cherokee and recruiting companies in completive fields, the partnership with CCSD is invaluable. “Mastery of STEM knowledge is crucial to successful careers in the global marketplace’s current and emerging fields that, overall, offer the highest pay and strongest job security; and we want each of our students to have the greatest opportunity to succeed in these arenas… it’s exceptional that four of our schools are receiving statewide recognition from such a prominent organization for this focus,” Cherokee County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank R. Petruzielo said.
Winners will be announced on August 28 at the Carlos Community Center in Atlanta. Forty schools, organizations and companies will be recognized in eight categories including: Elementary School, Middle School, High School, STEM Certified School Outreach, Extracurricular Program, Post Secondary Outreach, Georgia STEM Day Activity and Corporate Outreach. For more information, visit http://www.tagonline.org/events/stem-education-awards/