ODESSA, Texas — Over the next five years, every elementary school in West Texas will become home to a STEM center.
This is all thanks to the generosity of a new partnership.
The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and Permian Strategic Partnership celebrated the grand opening of the STEM center at Pease Elementary in ECISD.
It is one of 134 to be installed as part of the $7.5 million investment.
Ripken himself was even there to celebrate the big occasion.
"My dad was a coach but I also looked to him as a teacher in many ways and he used to be able to lift up kids through his message and the way that he talks to them. And he firmly believed in exposures in kids' lives, show them different things let them see what they like and how their light lights up, and he really believed that you should follow what you love. So when you look at the kids working on these STEM kits, you can see that their minds are starting to work and I truly believe that there are kids who have an aptitude for this and they just take off," said Ripken.
The goal of this project is to reach over 6,000 students and 2,000 teachers in 22 counties in our area.