HARRISBURG– The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) urged Pennsylvania schools to sign up for the 10th annual Governor’s STEM Competition. The competition challenges student teams from across the state to research, design, and present a device or project that can make the quality of life better for Pennsylvanians by accomplishing a series of practical tasks that can fulfill real-world needs.
“Hands-on learning is critical to our students’ success and thanks to more opportunities in STEM, our students will have the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “That’s why my Administration is making significant investments to bring hands-on learning back into classrooms, improve access to STEM education, and open up apprenticeship opportunities for our students. This competition is one more way we are supporting students’ creativity and showcasing their talents – and I encourage all PA students to show us your STEM skills in action.”
“The Governor’s STEM Competition showcases the best and brightest in the future of education and the workforce,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. “By engaging students in hands-on, experiential learning, this program creates real solutions for community needs, inspires today’s students to become tomorrow’s STEM leaders, and makes learning fun.”
The competition is open to students in grades 9 through 12 who attend a public, charter, or private school, a career and technical education center, or a student being homeschooled in Pennsylvania. Registration closes December 24, 2023.
The 20 selected teams will demonstrate or display their STEM-related projects for peer review and selection at the Governor’s STEM Competition, held annually in Harrisburg, in May. Of the finalists, a total of eight winning teams will receive one time scholarship payments for placing as Grand Champion, First Runner Up, Second Runner Up, or Third Runner Up. Other important dates for competing teams can be found on the PDE website.
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is an integrated, interdisciplinary, and student-centered approach to learning that encourages curiosity, creativity, artistic expression, collaboration, communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and design thinking.
