Arizona opinion: Tucson to host national rural STEM summit

Like many of the 387 residents of Shonto, Arizona, a remote town on the Navajo Nation, Regina Sells is an educator.

She teaches the STEM and Career and Technical Education curriculum at Shonto Preparatory School, a combination grade school and charter high school.

Last year, Sells attended the inaugural National Rural STEM Learning Summit in Flagstaff, joining other teachers, representatives of STEM industries, businesses, research institutes, science centers and museums, and community and nonprofit organizations in Arizona and the U.S.

Sells came to network and gather ideas for a recycling program in Shonto. She left with something greater: Insights from STEM experts, and innovative ideas on stretching her community’s minimal resources by problem solving and learning with other rural educators.

This year’s National Rural STEM Learning Summit will be held June 4-7 at the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa in Tucson. Themes include: The future of Arizona — an expanded economy, highly skilled workforce, and equal opportunities for all.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, The Burton Family Foundation, Arizona Commerce Authority, Freeport McMoRan, SRP, TIES and the Arizona State Library, the summit is open to anyone interested in STEM and workforce development.

The summit prompts conversations about bringing new opportunities and innovation to rural Arizona, where 51,000 students attend school. Inspiring industry success stories are also shared.

An example: The first phase of Lucid Motors’ advanced manufacturing plant in 2021 in Casa Grande reportedly represented a $700 million investment, and its second phase, opened earlier this year, totaled more than $1 billion, according to the company. Lucid Motors has about 2,500 employees working in Casa Grande.

To help train individuals for those jobs, the state in 2021 launched Drive48, a state-of-the-art training center south of Phoenix. Thousands of Lucid employees have since completed training on robots and other critical systems in EV manufacturing.

Here are three reasons the summit is important to Arizona:

Growing the rural STEM ecosystem. Generally, schools in rural areas and small towns have fewer teachers and resources to offer advanced coursework and extracurricular programs in STEM. Research shows rural students have less access to AP STEM courses and earn fewer advanced credits than suburban students.

Recognizing those gaps, the SciTech Institute began cultivating a STEM ecosystem 10 years ago. Among other programs, an annual SciTech Festival was launched, offering statewide events that demonstrate the importance of STEM to the economy.

The summit is another part of that ecosystem, offering opportunities for partnerships crossing geographic and economic boundaries. It connects rural educators to business and industry leaders, focuses on STEM workforce needs, and enables the sharing of best practices and innovating new solutions.

Focusing on workforce development. A well-trained workforce is a must in Arizona, which is rapidly becoming a global center for tech and manufacturing.

We can’t let our foot off the gas. The summit gives small businesses to large corporations opportunities to convey their missions and workforce needs. “It’s important for Goodwill to understand where students and the career-minded are headed,” said Sandra Darling of Goodwill of Central & Northern Arizona, a 2023 summit attendee.

Gathering all perspectives. A truly comprehensive plan for STEM requires listening to all voices, in Arizona and outside, too. Last year’s summit drew the chair of the Iowa Rural STEM Working Group, who wanted to see how common barriers are being overcome.

Seeing “allies and champions” together in a purposeful networking experience was a highlight, the chair said.

Thanks to state leaders and organizations like the Arizona Commerce Authority, the state has become a demonstrated leader in forging collaborations among government, education, business and industry for STEM learning, innovation and workforce development.

The National Rural STEM Learning Summit is another way the Grand Canyon State is building a bright future for all Arizonans.