The Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance and Atlas School of Technology are among beneficiaries of $5 million in grant funding announced recently in Oklahoma City by Google.
“This partnership really is about opening doorways,” said Emily Mortimer, vice president of STEM ecosystems at TRSA. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“Through Google’s funding, we’re helping families see what’s next for their students, giving employers and educators a shared language for the skills youth are building, and empowering students to become the authors of their own STEM stories,” she said. “This is more about the partnership than it is about anything.”
TRSA, established about 10 years ago, aims to inspire and prepare youth for a STEM-enabled future.
The nonprofit received $225,000 from Google, which will enable TRSA to expand a pilot program it started about two years ago called Momentum.
Mortimer said that while the program can be for students in grades K-12, its main focus is for those in third through fifth grades. Students earn three different levels of badges, similar to those in Scouting, but digital. Since the pilot program began, about 700 students have earned badges, she said.
With Google’s funding, TRSA will be able to add 2,500 students to the program, as well as train and “certify” 20 education and community partners as digital badge issuers. A statewide data dashboard will track access, equity and outcomes to drive improvement for students in the program.
Many of the students that TRSA is hoping to attract with its Momentum program are those who are underserved, Mortimer said.
Meanwhile, Atlas School received $200,000 from Google.
The school at 15 N. Cheyenne Ave. offers 20-month programs in full stack development, machine learning and systems programming for nontraditional college-aged students.
Programs at Atlas are delivered in a blended on-campus and online format and include career readiness activities such as professional communication, resume development, portfolio preparation and business networking.
Google’s funding “will be really great for us and for our students,” said Drew Burks, associate executive director of Atlas.
Atlas earlier this year announced a tuition reduction from $37,500 to $5,005. Tuition is now $71.50 per credit hour.
The reduction was made through increased support from the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
TRSA is part of the Tulsa Area United Way; Atlas School is not.
Burks said Google’s funding to TRSA could result in younger students’ interest in tech and perhaps lead them to Atlas.
“We would love to see that,” he said. “When there’s early stages (in tech interest), it could continue on.”
Google’s announcement in Oklahoma City on Nov. 7 included statements from many dignitaries, including U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla.
Bice’s House district includes downtown Oklahoma City, where the event was held at the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paycom Center.
It was billed as an “AI Business Summit” hosted by Google and the NBA team to “share insights on both national and state AI initiatives and opportunities, practical AI tools for business productivity and innovation, and AI demos,” a news release said.
With Google’s funding, the Thunder will launch new AI sports programming for students, AI training for educators, “and advance tech-forward solutions and emerging technologies while bolstering the entrepreneurial landscape,” the release said.
“AI is the next great opportunity for Oklahoma’s economy,” Mullin said. “We are grateful to Google and the Oklahoma City Thunder for their commitment to Oklahoma students and businesses, to ensure our workforce is not only ready for this transformation, but is in a position to lead it.”
Google’s grant also includes funding to help launch a new master’s degree in AI at Oklahoma State University through the university’s foundation.
“OSU’s collaboration with Google reflects our commitment to enhancing hands-on learning opportunities for our students and cultivating relationships that advance OSU’s land-grant mission across the state,” said Kyle Wray, senior vice president for system affairs at OSU.
Jeremy Dautenhahn, head of cloud for the Southeast region at Google said: “We’re supporting organizations across the state that are providing the critical training needed to build a strong foundation of local talent, empowering local businesses to grow with AI today, and creating new career pathways for tomorrow. ... We’re helping to develop a diverse and skilled workforce that will drive the next generation of innovation and power Oklahoma’s economic future.”
Google’s investment in Oklahoma increasing
On Aug. 13, Google held a news conference announcing it was investing $9 billion over the next several years — the largest private investment in state history — for a new data center in Stillwater and to expand its existing data center at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, which it opened in 2007.
Google is also set to build a new data center campus in Muskogee, The Oklahoman reported last week.
The Oklahoma Department of Commerce confirmed it is aware of plans for a third Google data center operation in the state following an announcement at the Muskogee State of the City speech by the town’s mayor, Patrick Cale.
In his Nov. 6 address, Cale announced Google is set to build “two major data centers” that will represent a multibillion-dollar investment in Muskogee.
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