(TRAVERSE CITY - Northwest Lower Michigan) Newton’s Road is pleased to announce that they have been selected as a recipient of the Rotary Charities' Assets for Thriving Communities Grant. The awarded funds are for the Newton's Road Career Investigator for Northwest Michigan, a dynamic digital platform for 8th-12th grade students to explore opportunities for a STEM-related future.
This project builds upon a pilot design supported by a previous RC Seed grant to help young people easily navigate STEM careers and connect to career pathways and regional employers. It aligns with the region's economic development goals of developing a 21st century workforce and builds upon our region's reputation as being focused on future workforce development. It also aims to level the playing field of access to important career information for all youth in our 5-county region.
Barb Termaat, Executive Director of Newton's Road, states: "The grant funding expands ways for students to find careers that appeal to their interests and to interact with local employers. It also adds tools to scale their team's capacity to support and sustain the Career Investigator." For example, the project funding will:
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Create more of a “shopping experience” for the students, allowing easier comparison and sorting of potential careers, expand filtering criteria, improve the career pathway experience and save careers to return to.
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Increase the ability for students to connect with employers through internships, co-op opportunities, and community events related to these careers.
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Add back-end improvements such as uploading new data sets, and simplifying management of shared assets across careers.
The grant and matching funds also support the work of Newton's Road team members to maintain and grow the platform, as well as improved messaging to different audiences to help grow awareness.
As Newton’s Road continues to expand the Career Investigator platform, they welcome regional companies hiring STEM-related jobs to take a few minutes to create an Employer Profile directly linked to the careers they hire and share the ways they support students in gaining real-world experience. Contact stemvista@NewtonsRoad.org to learn more and get started.
Newton's Road wishes to thank Rotary Charities for their ongoing generous support and also our matching grant supporters: Northwestern Michigan College, Promethient, BORIDE Engineered Abrasives, and United Way of Northwest Michigan. They ask other employers to consider joining them in sponsoring this initiative that supports our youth and region!
About Newton’s Road Northwest
Newton’s Road is a nonprofit focused on cultivating creative problem solvers by connecting families of K-12 children to quality STEM learning and career exploration experiences. Founded in 2010 and based in Traverse City, Newton’s Road supports the 5-county region, including Antrim, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie and Leelanau counties. Find us online at newtonsroad.org.