Welcome

Four Corners STEM Prep Project

STEM PREP PROJECT SUMMARY

Welcome to our innovative Four Corners STEM Prep Project, being implemented among residents served by three adult education programs in southwest Colorado: Unlimited Learning (applicant), in Cortez; Pine River Community Learning Center, in Ignacio; and the Montrose County School District Adult Education in Montrose. The STEM Prep Program is designed to provide basic training for work in the Energy and Health fields. This training program can help a person gain needed skills to enter a training program for Health or Energy or possibly gain a job in one of these fields. The STEM Prep Program is looking for people who are tired of their current job and would like to gain the skills needed to begin the shift to a new line of work. STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

STEM Prep will offer tailored instruction to students through Rapid Learning Stations, where they will complete STEM-related lab experiments, along with related academic online and offline activities, designed to prepare them to succeed once they enter STEM college training or employment among very high-demand employers in the region. Digital technology (live-video instruction and communication; online instructions and interactive learning; and computer applications) will play a central role in the project and provide ideal vehicles of communication among students and their coaches, and program personnel in each program.

The design for this project has been reviewed and enthusiastically endorsed both by regional employers and by the training institutions that will serve students once they earn our STEM Prep certificate.

Regional Partnership

Unlimited Learning, Inc. Unlimited Learning, Inc. (UL), Cortez, CO, and the towns and reservation it serves in Montezuma & Dolores Counties.

Pine River
CommunityLearning Center Pine River Community Learning Center (PRCLC), Ignacio, CO, and the towns and reservation it serves in eastern LaPlata Co.

Montrose Adult Education Center Montrose Adult Education Center, Montrose, CO, and the towns it serves in Montrose County.

Learning Style: RLS

The STEM Prep Program is focused on STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The STEM Prep Program is intended to prepare people for either college training programs or immediate entry into the Energy field or the Health field. As both the Energy and Health fields have lots of science, technology, engineering and math involved this is a great combination for people who want to learn new skills so they can change their careers.

The individual student will choose if they want to complete the Health Lab or the Energy Lab. At the completion of all the required work, a student will earn a STEM Prep Certificate. A student can choose to complete both the Energy and Health Labs... » continue reading

Last News

News about the program and more.

OCT 31

Unlimited Learning Center

The Unlimited Learning Center in Cortez has revamped its adult education program to focus on the industrial trades in addition to its career training in the medical fields...

» read more

NOV 04

Open House

Unlimited Learning Center is hosting an Open House to introduce its STEM Prep Training programs for the Health and Energy fields..

» read more

STEM Prep Goal:

To develop a new and growing pool of skilled workers who will become employed or succeed in training in certificate and degree programs leading to high-demand STEM careers that offer high self-sufficiency wages, especially in the medical and energy industries on the Western Slope of Colorado.

Video on STEM education

Click on thumbnail to view video .

Method

STEM Prep applies the principles advocated by andragogy (adult teaching), which states that adults learn when new information is presented in ways which relate to their experiences, interests, goals, and learning abilities. Therefore, STEM Prep has students practice academic skills within the contexts of their chosen industries in engaging formats that appeal to their learning preferences, especially in the Four Corners region: visually, cooperatively, and hands-on.