GEORGETOWN, Ky. — In Central Kentucky, Toyota is advancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education as the amount of STEM jobs grows nationwide.
Toyota USA Foundation announced an investment of up to $5.7 million in Scott and Fayette County Schools to expand access to STEM education as part of its Driving Possibilities program.
“There are going to be so many jobs coming up in the future and we want to make sure that those jobs are going to be filled by the students of today,” said Kim. Sweazy, senior analyst of corporate communications for Toyota North America.
Leaders at Toyota’s Georgetown plant and school superintendents announced 10 schools in both Fayette and Scott County will split the money aimed at expanding accessibility to STEM.
“We want to make a true difference in an area that really needs it and then hopefully maybe other communities will be able to expand this with the help of other corporate partners,” Sweazy said.
Schools that feed into Georgetown Middle in SCS and Bryan Station feeder schools in FCPS will receive the funds over five years aimed at expanding literacy, building partnerships and addressing transportation barriers facing families.
“It will impact this neighborhood and it will impact on generations to come. As a child myself, coming from poverty, I realize the importance of having an entire village, helping reach every single child in every single corner of the community,” said FCPS superintendent, Demetrus Liggins.
Liggins says Bryan Station’s feeder area struggles academically and is the most diverse in the district.
“We just felt after many discussions and debates back and forth that that was the best pattern to go with to impact as many students in need as possible,” Liggins said.
Kentucky Lieutenant Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, D-Ky., said the need for STEM is growing and hopes more women in the Commonwealth consider a STEM role for their career.
“This has primarily been a male-dominated field before, but to make sure that everybody has access to this kind of opportunity is really going to help us with that parity in STEM fields as well,” Coleman said.
Sweazy said Scott and Fayette Counties are where a majority of their workforce lives and works. She adds STEM is much more than the automotive industry.
“We have so many jobs coming open and jobs that we don’t even know about right now. As technology changes, those jobs are going to be there,” Sweazy said.
The Georgetown plant is Toyota’s largest manufacturing facility in the world, according to Tellis Bethel, Toyota’s group vice president of social innovation.
Bethel added, Kentucky is the second site to launch a Driving Possibilities program, building off of the inaugural program in West Dallas, Texas.