The smoky mountains stem collaborative project will serve predominantly native appalachian students, a cultural group comprised of the descendants of native american, 16TH century european and african…

Southwestern Community College was awarded a $3.19M cooperative agreement on January 4, 2016, through a civilian federal agency to lead the Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative project, which aims to bridge gaps in the K-12 to postsecondary education pathway for underrepresented populations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. The project will serve predominantly Native Appalachian students across Western North Carolina, including public schools in Jackson, Macon, and Swain Counties, as well as Cherokee Central Schools operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The collaborative partnership leverages subject matter experts and regional institutions including NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Appalachian State University, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute to deliver comprehensive STEM education initiatives aligned with NASA science education objectives.

The initiative addresses the underrepresentation of Native Appalachian descendants—a cultural group comprising descendants of Native American, 16th-century European, and African settlers—in STEM fields and is designed to serve as a model for rural and isolated regions nationally. Project goals include improving science education quality, increasing and sustaining student engagement in STEM, enhancing STEM experiences for undergraduate students, and building a sustainable pathway from K-12 through postsecondary education for an underserved population. The award carries no set-aside designation and has a completion date of December 31, 2026.

The smoky mountains stem collaborative project will serve predominantly native appalachian students, a cultural group comprised of the descendants of native american, 16TH century european and african settlers of the rugged mountains of western NC who today remain underrepresented in stem disciplines. Smsc will effectively and efficiently engage this southern appalachia region's public schools and the eastern band of the cherokee indians tribal schools, a community college and university in a cohesive partnership that will leverage subject matter experts and science centers to achieve its goals as well as NASA science education objectives thus becoming a model for rural, isolated regions throughout the nation. CO., macon CO. And swain CO. Schools and cherokee central schools of the eastern band of cherokee indians with subject matter expert partners NASA marshall space flight center, appalachian state university, great smoky mountains national park and pisgah astronomical research institute. The goals of the project are to improve science education, increase and sustain student engagement in stem; to enhance stem experiences of undergraduate students, and, to serve a group that has been underrepresented in stem fields.