Caterpillar Foundation Donates $153,000 to Aurora University STEM Partnership School

Citing the need for skilled workers, the Caterpillar Foundation on Friday, March 23, made a $153,240 investment in the STEM Partnership School at Aurora University to support the development of its manufacturing curriculum.

As part of Caterpillar's ongoing commitment to sustainable education, the Caterpillar Foundation investment in the school's innovative science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education model will help increase the U.S. pipeline of talent in these critical fields.

"In addition to advancing knowledge of STEM education, we hope to show students that manufacturing is a great career," said Ken Knight, General Manager of Caterpillar's Aurora facility. "Aurora University's unique program has strong ties to the Aurora community, where a majority of our employees work and live.

"We look forward to matching the knowledge of our Caterpillar team with the talent at Aurora University as we design a manufacturing curriculum. We're experts in manufacturing and Aurora University has experts in education - making this a perfect fit."

The STEM Partnership School will initially serve approximately 200 third- through eighth-grade students in the Aurora East, Aurora West, Indian Prairie and Oswego school districts. District teachers who will simultaneously complete AU graduate coursework in STEM fields will staff the program. The school on the Aurora University campus will prepare young students for 21st century jobs and train teachers to develop best practices that will shape the curriculum of all four partner school districts.

The manufacturing curriculum will be developed in two stages. First, a team consisting of a Caterpillar employee, AU professor, representatives from each of the four partner school districts and an evaluator will develop two Aurora University graduate courses focused on curriculum design, implementation and evaluation. Second, a group of local teachers, principals and curriculum leaders will take the graduate courses and develop the units of study for the STEM Partnership School. Business partners and AU faculty members will also participate in the courses and provide input.

"The collaborative approach to curriculum development will ensure that all the partners have input into how STEM subjects are taught to make sure it aligns with real-world economic needs," said Sherry Eagle, Executive Director of the AU Institute for Collaboration, which is leading the project.

"The Caterpillar Foundation recognizes that the way to strengthen the education of K-12 students is to give teachers the opportunity to learn," she said. "We're excited to rely on Caterpillar's expertise to help shape the curriculum so it meets its manufacturing needs and creates a talent pool of skilled STEM workers."

The Caterpillar Foundation gift follows a from the Exelon Foundation and strong financial support from the Aurora-based Dunham Fund.