The Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD)’s SME PRIME initiative has focused on increasing the involvement of women in the technology program by hosting a number of female students at their manufacturing, engineering and welding summer camp.
Rachel Linder, recipient of a 2019 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship, found that engineering was an educational path to pursue when she realized that it combined her strengths and interests. Now a student at the University of Louisville studying mechanical engineering, Rachel credits support and encouragement from her parents and engaging teachers for her preparation.
Endowing a named scholarship through the SME Education Foundation is an important, lasting way to aid students. Your scholarship establishes an important legacy of support for future manufacturing engineers and technicians. It's also a very meaningful way to honor family and friends.
The SME Education Foundation annually awards millions of dollars in scholarships to graduating SME Student Members who are graduating high school seniors, undergraduates and graduate students pursuing two-year, four-year or advanced degrees in manufacturing or engineering.
Since 2011, SME PRIME has reached nearly 100,000 students in 60 communities across 22 states.
East Jackson, Mich. Oct. 27, 2023 - Since the beginning of the 2022-23 academic year, the SME Education Foundation has made it possible for students at East Jackson Secondary School in Michigan to have access to new manufacturing education resources through the SME Education Foundation.
The number of SME PRIME high schools is set to double after the SME Education Foundation received a $6 million donation from the State of Michigan’s approved Education Budget. The legislation was crafted with bipartisan support from the Michigan Legislature, including Foundation board member and state representative Joe Tate (D-Detroit).
Rob Luce, SME Education Foundation vice president: “SME PRIME schools are central to our commitment of inspiring, preparing and supporting young people,”
SME Education Foundation’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy is designed to fully integrate diversity and equity opportunities in every program, effort and initiative undertaken by the foundation over the next five years.
Valerie Freeman, a manufacturing and robotics pathway teacher at Park High School, will join the SME Education Foundation Board of Directors in 2021. Park High School in Racine Unified School District joined the SME PRIME school network in 2017. Freeman was instrumental in utilizing SME PRIME to install new curriculum, training to teach students important skills like how to program a robotic arm and remodeling the classroom for a more effective learning environment.