This week in STEM, educators, policy makers and industry leaders lend their voices and investments into another year of getting students and young learners interested in STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. 

Arne Duncan to California: Invest in STEM

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has used The Los Angeles Times to reach California policy makers and educators to remind them of the importance of investing energy and funding into STEM.

"High-quality instruction in science, technology, engineering and math — subjects collectively known as STEM — can provide students with a lens to approach and view the world," Duncan said.

Duncan encourages those in California and across the nation to start encouraging children to get into STEM as early as preschool to get them to be life-long STEM learners.

"With the start of this new school year, I'm confident that working together and across sectors, we can commit to connecting all students to strong STEM learning and great teachers that not only push our young people to explore and understand the world but also build the capacity to change it for the better."

Read his full post here. 

Miss Utah Advocates for STEM

Miss Utah International Thelina Smith understands the importance of students learning STEM.

From a low-income background, Smith relied on her love for education and STEM to persevere. "Smith became the president of the Society of Women Engineers before graduating into a full-time engineering career," said KSL Broadcasting.

"Based on her experiences, Smith said having a support system is crucial. This led her to found SELF-ESTEAM, an outreach organization that aims to increase the number of women and underrepresented students who go into science, technology, engineering, art and math — all STEAM fields. Smith sees art as a 'bridge' between the other elements of STEM and her engineering job utilizes art extensively."

Read more here. 

New York Hall of Science and STEM Apps

The New York Hall of Science has partnered with design firm Local Projects to provide students with Noticing Tools, a collection of apps designed to make it easier for students to learn science and math concepts.

"For the past three years, NYSCI has been working with the media design firm Local Projects to create a social, engaging educational platform that meets the Common Core standards for middle school math and science. The kids using the app today are in one of the 50 classrooms across the country that have been testing the apps in beta for the past year," said Fast Company Design.

"Local Projects and NYSCI don't yet have the empirical data to validate their efforts. Over the next year, they will deploy a huge longitudinal study that will compare the standardized test scores of students who used the apps as learning tools and those that didn't. Still, Barton says the anecdotal feedback they've received from teachers involved in the beta testing has been overwhelmingly positive."

Read more here. 

Microsoft & STEM

Microsoft has one of the biggest hands in investing in STEM in education and helping recruit future STEM leaders.

One of its more recent endeavors this week is the creation of the Microsoft STEM lab in Nevada. The $140,000 project in the Discover Museum offers a variety of new technology and devices for visitors to familiarize themselves with — a great opportunity for young learners.

"The Discover museum emphasizes that more and more companies are seeking people with CS engineering skills and by increasing students access to these types of courses, 'students can build their knowledge, skills, and aspirations and seize the opportunities of today's innovation economy," said KTVN News.

Read more here. 

Compiled by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor