Alabama Power and Alabama STEM Council host ‘STEMternship’ for teachers
The Alabama STEM Council and Alabama Power hosted middle and high school teachers for a "STEMternship" two-day symposium on innovation and technology. (contributed)
Experts believe a skilled, diverse and dedicated workforce is essential to the future of Alabama. In the spirit of that goal, the Alabama STEM Council and Alabama Power hosted middle and high school teachers in a two-day symposium on innovation and technology. The program provided educators with externship experiences in science, technology, engineering and math-based industries, deepening the connection between STEM workplaces and the classroom.
“We wanted this to be a collaborative event between ourselves and these teachers,” said Jason Watters, Alabama Power Workforce Development coordinator. “We let them tell us what they wanted to learn and what they needed to be teaching their students.”
The teachers developed a set of objectives to learn about during the externship in Birmingham.
The first day focused on how Alabama Power and Southern Company are building the future by investing in clean energy solutions for customers. This session covered renewable energy and battery storage from Southern Power, electric vehicle migration with Alabama Power Fleet Services and investment in innovation with Techstars.
The second session highlighted technical solutions and data analytics, providing insight on Alabama Power’s technology capabilities, management systems and data science components. Teachers toured the company’s Distribution Control Center and learned about the GIS program and efforts involving the Grid Inform and Connectivity department.
The Alabama STEM Council partners with businesses to expose teachers to career opportunities and the ability to take real-world examples back to students.
“We wanted to show that while STEM jobs require foundational skills in math and science, it’s also critical that students have a problem-solving mentality, the ability to work with others and are able to get results,” said Tom McNeal, manager of Alabama Power’s Workforce Development Program.
The Alabama Power program also featured a discussion on how to answer specific career questions from students, including: “What can I do now while in school to prepare?”, “What do employers really look for when hiring?” and “How could I derail a career?”
“Teachers are rarely given the opportunity to get an inside look into industry and other nonacademic career opportunities,” said Melanie Dimler, AP physics and science teacher at Hewitt-Trussville High School, who attended the externship. “I am grateful to the Alabama STEM Council for giving us the chance to speak with several industry professionals within Alabama Power. I am better equipped to counsel students toward local job opportunities and plan lessons that include honing the skills that are most important to today’s employers.”
Dimler also mentioned how impressed she was with the way safety was a focus of everything the teachers saw during the externship. Seeing the importance of safety to Alabama Power will lead Dimler to a renewed emphasis on a “safety first” mindset in her classroom and during labs, she said.
Alabama STEM Council members said the knowledge gained from the Externship Program will transform teachers’ ability to connect content with student interests and career pathways by learning about important workplace skill requirements, trends, best practices, and technology and tools needed for success in today’s STEM-based college and career fields.
