Early STEM education and the workforce of the future

Story

March 17, 2025

Industries that rely on rapidly changing complex technologies often face significant skills and expertise gaps, which clarifies the need for a well-educated workforce. Comprehensive STEM education aims to show students early on what scientific and technology careers can entail; encourage critical thinking, analysis, and problem-solving skills; enhance their ability to adapt to challenging situations; and prepare them to work on effective solutions to real-world problems.

Huntsville, Alabama, is known as a technology hub – particularly in the defense arena: major defense, space, and engineering companies have an outsized presence in the Huntsville area, along with the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and Cummings Research Park, the second-largest research park in the U.S.

A 2024 report from commercial real-estate and investment firm CBRE Group Inc. (CBRE) named Huntsville the number-one up-and-coming tech-talent market, citing its 17.9% growth in tech employment and 19.6% increase in technology wages over the previous five years. Moreover, as of the end of 2023, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that the Huntsville, Alabama metro area was home to 44,450 people employed in jobs connected to STEM. The CBRE report also called Huntsville the top of the “next 25” emerging markets, outpacing growing cities like Omaha, Nebraska, and Albany, New York.

The challenge for areas like Huntsville: Making sure that the regional education systems keep pace with industrial growth, ensuring excellent opportunities for students, growth opportunities for educators, and a well-educated talent pool for area employers. One such employer is defense giant Lockheed Martin, which has a large presence in Huntsville.

Lockheed Martin partnered with MindSpark Learning, a nonprofit organization that works to empower teachers and school leaders to transform education through real-world learning experiences for even the youngest students. Their aim: To upskill educators in STEM and problem-based learning to build relevant, authentic learning experiences that prepare students to enter key industries.

The MindSpark team focuses on building the capacity of schools, businesses, and communities to collaborate in ways that prepare both students and the work force for the future. MindSpark’s approach is to balance STEM education for students – as early as elementary school – with career-connected pathways and leadership development.

Kellie Lauth, the CEO of MindSpark, says she believes that all students have the right to be STEM-literate and have access to relevant, authentic learning models. “We also believe that education should not just improve a student’s academic trajectory but their economic one as well.

“There is no set criteria for engaging in quality STEM education,” she continues. “We identify schools based on their interest, their willingness to engage. The majority of our schools serve underserved student populations, rural regions, and carry a Title I designation (a federal program that aims to improve educational opportunities for students in need). We evaluate the school’s readiness to adopt a STEM model, focusing on leadership support and community interest. By addressing systemic inequities, we ensure that STEM education reaches those who need it most.”

Lauth says that its Huntsville-area program starts in early elementary school, with “hands-on, inquiry-based learning to build curiosity and foundational skills. By third grade, students are deciding what they are ‘good at’ and beginning to form their occupational identity so early career exposure and early problem-based models are key. When you start early, by high school, students are not only tackling real-world industry problems, but are actually leading the research and solution development, participating in internships and mentorships, engaging with advanced technologies, and launching their own companies.”

If students are engaged with industry since primary grades, by the time they are seniors in high school, “durable skills, workforce competencies, and a strong agency are natural to them,” she asserts. “Our focus on self-regulation, resilience, and decision-making equips students with the ability to lead under pressure. STEM schools emphasize socio-emotional intelligence and collaboration, enabling students to manage stress, think critically, and make ethical decisions. These qualities mirror the demands of leadership in military and defense roles, where adaptability and calm decision-making are paramount.”

Lauth describes how the military and defense component is integral to the students’ learning experience: “It comes through the integration of problem-solving, systems thinking, and exposure to defense technologies. Partners like Lockheed Martin bring industry-specific challenges into the classroom, mirroring the demands of defense fields. Students gain skills relevant to military and defense careers, such as cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and engineering, making them strong candidates for these industries. Within the K-8 space, our students have tackled problems alongside industry partners focused on drone design and use, using biomimicry to create more agile designs for a specific purpose complete with prototypes. At the high school level, our students collaborate on cybersecurity projects and have tackled problems involving space junk, helium storage, and biodiversity in space.”

Specific to the Huntsville area, Lockheed Martin is participating in encouraging STEM education in several ways, Lauth notes. “As a long-standing STEM champion, Lockheed Martin plays a critical role as both a funding partner and a hands-on collaborator. They provide real-world engineering challenges for students to solve, offer mentorship from their engineers, and host workshops to deepen students’ understanding of STEM careers.” Lockheed Martin personnel and MindSpark are working on connecting education and industry by showing students what the defense and aerospace fields are all about, or what Lauth calls “projects that bridge the access and opportunity divide.”

As she tells it, the Huntsville-area MindSpark program is both vocational- and higher-education focused. “The program equips students with technical skills for immediate workforce entry through vocational training while also preparing them for higher education through transdisciplinary, research-based learning. This dual focus ensures that students have multiple pathways to success, whether they choose to pursue a degree or enter the workforce directly.

“Lockheed Martin provides opportunities such as internships, engineer shadowing, and career-exposure workshops,” Lauth explains. “These experiences allow students to interact with professionals, work on real-world problems, and gain invaluable insights into the aerospace and defense industries, enhancing their preparedness and confidence for STEM careers.”

The Lockheed partnership also extends to educators: “We believe one of the most powerful and enduring ways Lockheed supports STEM is through educator professional­-learning opportunities,” she notes. “When you upskill an educator in STEM education, the impact is exponential and the ripple effect for students is larger.”

The desired outcome, Lauth states, is not just a scholarship or a job but the creation of a robust STEM talent pipeline.

“We aim for students to graduate with the skills and confidence to secure STEM scholarships, pursue higher education, or directly enter technical roles in industries like defense and aerospace,” Lauth says. “These outcomes support long-term economic mobility for students and address workforce shortages in high-demand fields. We measure success through a combination of student outcomes, engagement metrics, and industry impact. For example, we track the number of students pursuing STEM careers, the quality of partnerships, and how well students solve industry-provided problems. Ultimately, success means producing confident, diverse, skilled students who are ready to lead in any field, including military and defense.

“STEM schools serve as innovation hubs where military and defense organizations can pilot education initiatives, share emerging technologies, and build relationships with the next generation of talent,” she continues. “These partnerships not only address workforce needs but also ensure that young innovators are prepared to tackle the complex challenges faced by the defense sector.”

The MindSpark model is not just a checklist, Lauth explains, but rather an “ecosystem approach. Colleges, universities, and community colleges are key partners in our STEM model. Beyond the traditional integration of dual enrollment, early college credit, and advanced STEM coursework in collaboration, our higher-education partners [including Colorado State University and Metropolitan State University] offer research opportunities, provide access to advanced technology for students and educators, serve as content experts within a specific field, and often provide direct feedback on student solutions and ideas. These partnerships help students transition smoothly into higher education and ensure their readiness for rigorous STEM degree programs and beyond.”

Now comes the question of how to replicate such a program in high-tech-focused areas other than Huntsville – for example, metro Boston, Scottsdale, or Austin. Lauth says that the process of replication begins with “partnering with an intermediary like MindSpark, who can speak both the language of education and the language of industry. It starts with building strong partnerships with local industries, schools, and government entities. While portable and transferable across all regions, the model will reflect the local community. The STEM model is adaptable and scalable – it focuses on aligning curricula with regional industry needs, training educators in problem-based learning, and fostering community engagement. For high-tech markets, the key is leveraging local expertise to create meaningful, real-world learning opportunities that prepare students for the demands of their region’s economy. The model does not inform from the top down, it utilizes global problems with hyper-localized solutions and centers students at the forefront of these ideas and innovations.”

In closing, Lauth says that other schools and companies can get on the path to enhanced STEM education and advisory roles by banding together. “Collab­or­ation is at the heart of our STEM schools. Industry partners provide authentic problems for students to solve, mentorship opportunities, and resources to enhance learning. Military and defense organizations could contribute by offering case studies, technological challenges, and mentorship programs that expose students to fields like cybersecurity, logistics, and advanced engineering. These partnerships not only enrich our curriculum but also inspire students to envision careers in these sectors.”