In just an hour or so, a visit to an elementary school classroom has the potential to spark interest and change a life, especially when the visitor is a biomedical engineer talking about their career, and then conducting a hands-on activity with 4th and 5th graders.

Classroom visits like this will happen throughout the month of February, coordinated by Beaverton-based Business Education Compact as an activity during National Engineers Month. The BEC classroom program is known as STEM Connect™, which focuses on underserved 4th and 5th grade classrooms and promotes interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Acumed, for the past four years and continuing in 2014, will send teams of biomedical engineers to participate in STEM Connect™, joining engineers from IBM, Daimler, and other participating Oregon companies and colleges. In addition, Acumed has become an official sponsor of National Engineers Month and will offer continuing programs and support for STEM Connect™ students.

Acumed expects to send engineers out to seven classrooms during National Engineers Month. One of those engineers is Lindsey Van Schoiack, a Biomedical Engineering Ph.D., who offers these observations on her experience as a STEM Connect™ participant: “STEM Connect™ is a great opportunity to expose kids to what science and engineering really are, and how they are used to solve real problems which can ease apprehension about these subjects and encourage students to consider them as options as they plan ‘what they want to be when they grow up’. That is extremely rewarding to see.”

Acumed’s continued participation in BEC’s STEM Connect™during National Engineers Month is consistent with its corporate social responsibility policy and its efforts to make a positive impact in the communities it serves. “If our participation in STEM Connect™ can alter the course of a child into a positive and productive career, it will be worth our investment of time, energy and resources,” says Chelsea Boyte, Acumed’s Business Development Analyst. “That we can apply our industrial and professional expertise in biomedical engineering to this worthwhile program makes it all the more relevant and meaningful to us as a high tech manufacturing company and to our engineering professionals.”

“Sparking interest early in science and math is key to providing students with the tools they need to be STEM professionals. STEM Connect™ targets 4th and 5th grade classrooms where research shows that student interest in math and science begins to decline. The program identifies underserved and underperforming schools near a partnering company to connect a long-term relationship to support STEM student achievement,” says Darrin Marks of the Business Education Compact. “We are grateful to Acumed’s engineers and senior management for their participation and support.”

More about National Engineers Month and STEM Connect™ Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills are essential to a vital economic future for Oregon and the nation. Each February, the BEC orchestrates this major community initiative, sending hundreds of professional engineer volunteers into K-12 classrooms across Oregon to ignite interest in science and math. Through age-appropriate presentations and demonstrations, these volunteers raise student awareness of the opportunities and rewards of being an engineer. In 2010, 350 professional engineers visited 870 elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, reaching nearly 24,000 students across 24 Oregon and SW Washington counties.

The BEC’s STEM Connect™ initiative engages business partners, schools, volunteers and teachers to support achievement in math and science for underserved students at the elementary school level, where research shows that negative interest in math and science begins. By generating positive interest at an early age, underserved students are more likely to pursue STEM careers in the future.

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Acumed is a global leader in developing innovative orthopaedic and medical solutions to improve patient care. Acumed has over two decades of experience in the orthopaedic industry with the mission of aiding the afflicted through the ingenuity of our minds, the labor of our hands and the compassion of our hearts. Founded in 1988, Acumed is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, with offices and a distribution network around the world.

The Business Education Compact is a local nonprofit on a mission to Make Learning Real by connecting the classroom and workplace through innovative, hands-on learning experiences. The BEC stimulates interest in science and math for K-12 students through National Engineers Month and prepares high school and college students for workplace success through in-depth, paid internships. And to ensure that a high school diploma is a meaningful predictor of post-secondary education and work success, the BEC is leading an Oregon statewide initiative to transform K-12 education and dramatically improve student achievement outcomes through proficiency-based teaching and learning. www.becpdx.org