New Members join the Sport & STEM Alliance
July 31, 2020
Since its founding in 2017, the Sport and STEM Alliance has grown in number and significance, providing a platform to educate the wider community on how sport is also playing a game-changing role in the STEM education crisis. Half way through its third year, the Alliance has gained three new exciting members across a range of sectors, including a leading STEM learning corporation, a curriculum creating non-profit organization, and one of the largest educator preparation programs in the USA.
Sphero makes innovative, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create, and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. The Sphero ecosystem of tools and content gives kids, teachers, and parents of all learning and coding abilities a blank canvas to solve challenges at home, in school, and beyond. Sphero goes #BeyondCode and inspires kids to learn, build, create, and turn their imagination into a reality.
Sphero Sports is specifically tailored to Sports Foundations, Schools & CSR Driven Organizations to teach STEM education through sports kids already know and love. The program also provides organizations and educators with the perfect start in teaching STEM education.
Pure Game is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that creates programming for children, integrating a character education curriculum and leadership coaching through sport. The programs increase and encourage physical activity (aligned with public school physical activity standards), incentivize attendance, introduce life skills, build character, and help children create a positive self-image.
Pure Game has over 150 school partners, across 20 cities, and has impacted over 36,000 kids. The organization recognizes the importance that igniting passion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics is a global priority in the current educational climate.
The LMU School of Education (SOE), one of the largest educator preparation programs in the nation, prepares highly-qualified PK-20 educators to critically evaluate real-world educational issues, address achievement gaps, and lead reform. Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the SOE provides nearly 40 programs (credential, certificate, master’s, and education doctorate). The SOE enrolls approximately 1,400 candidates annually, preparing educators to work in underserved PK-12 schools with diverse students and respond to the unique needs of our Southern California communities. Its approximately 10,000 alumni can be found throughout California and nationwide, impacting educational policy and practice. The SOE is the third-highest ranked Jesuit School of Education in the country and ranks third among private, independent institutions in California.
For over three decades, the Loyola Marymount University has collaborated with elementary schools, secondary schools, and education focused organizations in the Greater Los Angeles area to establish a framework for socially just, student-centered teaching and learning. In 2006, the School of Education structured and formalized this work via establishing of the Loyola Marymount University Family of Schools (LMU-FOS).
The LMU Family of Schools (LMU FOS) is a university-community collaborative dedicated to promoting student success and educational equity via an integrated and symbiotic partnership between LMU and TK-12 public, private, parochial and independent charter schools. Focused on academic achievement, building healthy school cultures, and developing students who are college and career ready, LMU FOS accomplishes its mission through service, partnerships, and professional development. Working with Los Angeles Unified School District, the purpose of the LMU-FOS is to create and model a network of K-12 schools that partner with a local University to develop educators, improve student outcomes, and deeply engage community stakeholders.