SGA Founder Calvin Mackie Attends White House Space STEM Forum with Amazing 9th Grader on Path to Be an Astrophysicist

STEM Global Action among the organizations discussing improvements to STEM education and resolving workforce challenges related to America's space program

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, April 7, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- STEM Global Action (SGA) was represented at the White House Space STEM Forum yesterday by CEO and founder Dr. Calvin Mackie, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Lawrence Jackson and a brilliant student – Raleigh Brock, an amazing 9th grader, who is an aspiring astrophysicist. They participated in a Biden-Harris Administration forum where organizations from across the country discussed possible solutions to today’s space-related STEM education and workforce challenges.

Sponsored by the National Space Council, the forum brought together stakeholders from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors who are committed to developing solutions to the space-related science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and workforce challenges of today, and tomorrow.

With its flagship affiliate, STEM NOLA, and other affiliates around the country, SGA implements a community engagement model that directly addresses the historical challenges and barriers to STEM access for underserved and low resourced communities. The model offers programs and initiatives that bring STEM activities into communities, making them accessible to K-12 children in all communities.

“It was a great opportunity to participate with government, nonprofit and private sector leaders committed to advancing space-related STEM education for our children,” says Dr. Mackie. “We know that STEM fields will be the leading employers of the future and we have a responsibility to ensure that all children get opportunities to learn STEM skills. The more children we can engage in STEM, the faster we can close the racial wealth gap.”

Moreover, Dr. Mackie says that the objectives for SGA and its affiliates are exactly what the White House and the National Space Council are looking to accomplish nationwide. “We had a great conversation about how to expand STEM engagement and learning in all communities,” Dr. Mackie says. “I look forward to continuing that conversation and making it a reality. We, as a nation, can do it because SGA is doing it every day!”

Raleigh, who attends the New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School, also enjoyed the experience, saying, "I met a lot of interesting people, including an astrophysicist, Ronald Gamble of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.” Raleigh said she learned that Gamble studies black holes in space. “That is so exciting,” she says.

Over the years, Raleigh has honed her STEM skills from hard work at school, two parents committed to her future and participating in activities at STEM NOLA in New Orleans, where SGA is headquartered, since the 2nd grade. Last year, the 14-year-old, developed a science project, which demonstrates the link between the placement of solar panels on cars and the efficiency of solar energy. It won numerous awards for the innovative thinking it demonstrated and the potential for it to contribute to curbing climate change.

Raleigh elaborates on how the STEM NOLA experience deepened her educational development, especially pertaining to science, and more importantly opened her mind to possibilities she had never imagined. “Well, it made me like it (science and engineering) more because it opened my world to something new, some things that I never really knew about before. And I love to experience new things. I just wanted to experience another path in life, something different from what I had seen previously.”

Further, the insightful teen adds: “My biggest takeaway would be that if you open yourself up more to STEM and the many things that are around you, and look at everything in a different light, then maybe you can go for something greater in life than what you originally planned.”
Dr. Mackie believes that early exposure to STEM concepts is critical to grooming children for STEM careers.

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ABOUT STEM GLOBAL ACTION
In 2013, Dr. Calvin Mackie founded STEM NOLA, a New Orleans-based, non-profit committed to expanding STEM education at churches, community centers and schools, particularly in communities of color. His goal is to make STEM education available in ALL communities. In July 2021, Dr. Mackie launched STEM Global Action, a campaign and network of affiliates, including STEM NOLA, that pursues STEM education for children, parents, and communities across the U.S., and abroad. His initiatives have impacted more than 125,000+ students, 20,000 families and 5,100 schools across the U.S., and in five other countries. In addition to an informative website with a data center, newsroom and newsletter, Dr. Mackie hosts the Let’s Talk STEM with Dr. Calvin Mackie podcast series. It features interviews with guests from all aspects of STEM – entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders, students – who talk about the importance of STEM in their lives today. They are the mentors for the next generation of STEM leaders, models of success for others to follow.

Michael K. Frisby
Frisby & Associates
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