The AMA Education Team prioritizes educating current AMA members, prospective members, and even those who are just interested in model aviation. If you read through the many entries on our Education Blog, you can see the many ways we provide engaging learning opportunities to members of all ages.
However, we are a fairly small team. While we work day in and day out to ensure that we provide quality educational resources for those interested, it is important to us that we team up with others in order to reach new audiences we may not typically have access to.
The Dee Howard International Education Foundation (DHEDF) is a Texas-based educational non-profit established in January 2022. DHEDF's mission is to collaborate with other educational organizations and develop programming, curricula, resources, and initiatives to provide educational experiences to underserved Pre-K through twelfth students in STEAM-based learning. This STEAM learning is based on the use of Automotive and/or Aeronautical project-based learning pathways.
DHEDF announced its National STEM Initiative focused on Rural Schools in May 2022. The purpose of the Rural STEM Initiative is to deliver Aerosopace and Automotive STEAM resources to rural schools for Pre-K through grade 12 students, teachers, and school administrators. The collaborating organizations (listed below) deliver these resources primarily via virtual programming.
The goal is to establish an ongoing relationship with the schools participating in the Initiative to supplement their other STEM resources at no charge to the school and on a non-exclusive basis.
Wayne I. Fagan | Chair
Dee Howard International Education Foundation
2023-DHEDF-Rural-STEM-flyer-03-004Download
Rural STEM Participants benefit from involvement with top educators and scientists, engage in national dialogue and discussion with rural school peers, and contribute to the structure and implementation of the STEM program.
In addition to the AMA, the Rural STEM Initiative has 18 other Collaborating Organizations: Air Force Recruiting Service (AFRS), Detachment 1, Aim High Flight Academy, Center for Advanced Measurements in Extreme Environments, Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED), Computational Turbulence and Visualization Lab, Massachusetts Air and Space Museum, National Indian Education Association (NIEA), Oklahoma Aeronautics, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), SyberJet Aircraft, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, The Musem of Flight, University of South Alabama, Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, Galactic, Vivify STEM Education, WEX Foundation, and Wings of Hope.
Below are the links to the Participating Schools in the Rural STEM Initiative at the time of writing:
Arctic Village School
Arctic Village, AK Brackett ISD
Brackettville, TX Delta School
Bay Minette, AL Elsanor School
Robertsdale, AL Frankford Elementary
Frankford, MO Germantown Elementary School District #60
Germantown, IL Girard Schools USD 248
Girard, KS Girard Middle School
Girard, KS Girard High School
Girard, KS Henry County Public Schools
Collinsville, VA John Fredson School
Venetie, AK Kansas Public Schools
Kansas, OK Martinsville and Henry County National Society of Black Engineers
Martinsville, VA Martinsville City Public Schools
Martinsville, VA Meadow Village Elementary School
San Antonio, TX Miami Junior-Senior High School
Miami, AZ Paoli Public Schools
Paoli, OK Questa Junior/Senior High School
Questa, NM R.V. Haderlein Elementary
Girard, KS Rosinton School
Robertsdale, AL Stapleton Elementary
Stapleton, AL
If you have any questions about the DHEDF, the Rural STEM Initiative, and/or the partnership between AMA and DHEDF, you can reach out to Gwen Mathis, the person of contact for this partnership on behalf of AMA.
If you are interested in joining the DHEDF Rural STEM Initiative, you can get into contact with DHEDF Chair Wayne Fagan by email ([email protected]), calling (210) 570-7888, or accessing the contact form on the DHEDF website.
The AMA Education Team is excited to work with the DHEDF in this Rural STEM Initiative, and are looking forward to see where our collaboration will lead us!