Education is America’s single best investment in job creation. But our economic success relies not solely on helping students get their high school and college degrees; it rests upon our ability to graduate more students with highly marketable skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It’s the key to keeping America innovating, creating jobs and staying economically competitive with the world.

In Colorado, we already benefit from a terrific initiative for elementary and middle school students called Innovation Academy for a Smarter Planet, a collaboration of IBM and the St. Vrain Valley School District. At Innovation Academy, IBM employees, Colorado teachers and engineering students at University of Colorado at Boulder are helping young people learn the basics of engineering and creating projects to address pressing challenges in infrastructure, energy, communications, public safety and other areas.

We also greatly benefit from CU-Boulder’s Science Discovery initiative, which offers K-12 students and teachers hands-on science experiences led by CU scientists and graduate students. Every year, Science Discovery provides 30,000 Coloradans with opportunities to learn about the science and technology present in their everyday lives through summer and after-school classes, teacher workshops, school programs and community eve…………… continues on Longmont Daily Times-Call