TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --
Education, community, business and industry partners –
including representatives from Tinker Air Force Base — came together Aug. 8 to
officially launch the Central Oklahoma STEM Alliance, or COSTEMA, in a
designation ceremony held in the Blue Room of the State Capitol.
Attending the designation ceremony from Tinker AFB were
Brig. Gen. Tom Miller, Air Force
Sustainment Center vice commander, and his wife, Kim; Kevin Stamey, director of
the Air Force Sustainment Center’s Engineering Directorate; and Jackie Pearson,
from the 72nd Air Base Wing’s Communications Directorate.
Ms. Pearson, of the Society of Women Engineers, is a
COSTEMA board member. Her job is to help write operations plans to grow the
STEM programs both on base and in the state.
Tinker leaders are strong advocates for STEM education
initiatives, saying in the past that innovative and technically-savvy Airmen
are indispensable. The message should be loud and clear – continued strength
and success in the Air Force depends on innovation and technical excellence,
which comes from invaluable STEM education resources, officials said.
STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,
is the root of COSTEMA, an alliance whose mission is to inspire all students in
the greater Oklahoma City area to pursue education and careers in the
aforementioned fields.
Various measures are pursued to accomplish this goal:
partnering with education, business and industry to develop quality and
educational experiences; constructing STEM education programs anchored in
innovative replicable instruction models; embracing the best practices for
implementing, assessing and improving programs that result in an exceptional
workforce to grow and sustain the Oklahoma economy; acting as a resource to
parents, students, educators, business and industry on accessing STEM education
opportunities; celebrating the successes and recognition of students and
partners; and securing well-educated, skilled and motivated young men and women
who become the professionals and leaders who advance the development of
Oklahoma economic sectors.
Mr. Stamey explained that though the state’s budget crisis
does not allow funding support, the law which sets up COSTEMA opens an avenue
for the state’s Department of Education to support the STEM alliance.
“The main benefit to [Tinker as an employer] is that it
helps feed the STEM pipeline and give them access to the future STEM
workforce,” Mr. Stamey said.
The same law also requires the recognition and promotion
of triumphs and successes both in student and teacher STEM accomplishments.
Executive Director Adrianne Covington Graham presented the
STEM alliance as it formed back in the spring of 2015.
“We saw the need to address STEM education in our
elementary, middle, high schools and on to college,” Ms. Covington Graham said.
She also praised the University of Central Oklahoma for being a “huge driving
force in the success of [the] initiative.”
Mark Kinders, vice president of Public Affairs for the
University of Central Oklahoma, and a member of the COSTEMA executive
committee, said he had been a part of numerous startups prior to this alliance,
and believed this to have been the most positive and had the greatest success.
“This alliance is truly dynamic,” Mr. Kinders said.
COSTEMA was designed with the hopes of serving over
150,000 K-12 students in Oklahoma. Audrey Lee, an executive board member from
Francis Tuttle Technology Center, said hours upon hours of work had previously
been dedicated toward pushing the alliance forward successfully.
“We hope to identify where the best practices are
happening and how we can build upon that and advance it further…we are looking
to identify new resources and close the gaps where students are underserved,”
Ms. Lee said.
Recognizing COSTEMA as a regional district could be a
pivotal step in progressing the state’s economy and workforce, officials said.
Gov. Mary Fallin thanked the board for their efforts with
the initiative, as well as legislators and Tinker AFB. Having a large group of
distinguished people and organizations representing educational institutions,
business communities and industry join together to promote STEM education is a
positive step forward for Oklahoma and its generations to come, she said.
Following the praises for those spearheading the alliance,
Governor Fallin addressed the significance of STEM education and how it
benefits the state. She reported data on STEM certificates, stating that
individuals who possess STEM certificates or degrees help grow lucrative key industries
in Oklahoma.
Aerospace, energy, health care and technology are some key
markets, which can be driven from STEM education. Governor Fallin was
passionate about allocating whatever resources are necessary to ensure
businesses can find and hire a quality workforce.
STEM degrees have increased 28 percent in the past five
years in Oklahoma, Governor Fallin reported. She said the hope is to see an
increase of 10 percent annually in STEM skillsets needed up until 2022.
Furthermore, the governor listed statistics on where STEM
degree holders fall on the pay scale ranks. “STEM jobs pay around $72,000 per
year, which is double the salary of a typical Oklahoma job,” she said.
Governor Fallin spoke to the Air Force’s credit, and how
Tinker AFB is a critical component to Oklahoma’s prosperity. As it stands
today, Tinker alone could employ all of the STEM certificate or degree holders,
and still need more.
The United States Air Force has identified a dire need for
individuals with an apt for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
to consistently warrant stronger and better technology and innovation efforts.
Officials have said that having the proper educational
resources to propel STEM initiatives forward will allow the Air Force to better
develop, coordinate and assess programs and operations.
Every mission conducted by the Air Force has elements of
science, technology, engineering and mathematics, so not only is STEM education
impactful to the state as a whole, but specifically to Tinker, a huge factor in
Oklahoma’s economic growth.