Toyota awards $100K for STEM education in 5 Jackson-Madison Co. middle schools

JACKSON, Tenn. — Five local schools will soon have a new hands-on learning program.

The Toyota USA Foundation awarded $100,000 in grants Thursday to five Jackson-Madison County middle schools to have a new STEM class.

It’s all part of the “Lead the Way” project, a national effort by Toyota USA Foundation to inspire and prepare students for next-generation jobs.

The hands-on learning includes experiences such as designing tires for a moon rover, cleaning up an oil spill or exploring robotics.

STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math, is one of the fastest-growing occupation clusters in the South, with a projected employment of 2.6 million workers by 2020.

Superintendent Eric Jones tells us this project provides a great opportunity for students.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for our students,” Jones said. “We do have some advanced manufacturing in some of our high schools, but this goes along with our plan of moving forward to kind of reshape how we provide workforce opportunities once our students get to high school.”