Gorge STEM Connection

Oregon’s Hillsboro School District has launched the state’s first registered youth apprenticeship in advanced manufacturing—and it’s making waves. This two-year, paid program gives high school students real-world experience and leads to a state-recognized manufacturing technician certification through Oregon BOLI. The program is a standout example of what’s possible when schools, industry, and local government align. Key partners include Intel, Jireh Semiconductor, the City of Hillsboro, and others. Students earn while they learn—completing nearly 6,000 hours of training in the inaugural cohort—helping fill hundreds of open manufacturing jobs in Washington County while building career pathways for youth. Now expanding to nearby school districts with Future Ready Oregon funding, this program offers a roadmap for regions across the state. The Blueprint Exists—Now It’s Our Turn. How do we rally the right partners to build a youth apprenticeship program for the Columbia Gorge? 🎥 Hear directly from the students, educators, and industry leaders powering the Hillsboro program. Apprenticeship Opportunities, Hillsboro School District

Trying to make the most of a little break during the summer with my little one. Here's our Summer STEM Bucket List! What fun things would you add?

The future is showing up fast - and let’s be honest, our education systems weren’t built for this pace. These four headlines from just the past week have me thinking deeply about what it means to “prepare students”: 📉 Axios: Entry-level white-collar jobs are disappearing fast Anthropic’s CEO doesn’t sugarcoat it - the bottom rung of the job ladder is disappearing. AI is already impacting jobs many students once used to get their start - and it's happening faster than many of us thought possible. "AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs - and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years", according to Dario Amodei. 🧠 Michigan: Statewide AI Literacy for Educators This is what bold leadership looks like - Michigan is making sure every educator in the state is equipped to understand and teach AI literacy. From district leadership to classroom teachers, they’re all in. 🧒 UAE: Teaching 4-year-olds how to use AI Yes, four. The UAE is getting ahead of the curve by introducing AI Literacy and GenAI to the youngest learners — sparking questions about when we should start. The UAE is also the first OpenAI Stargate partner. 🌍 Estonia: AI Leap Initiative Estonia is rolling out AI-powered learning tools to 20,000 10-11 year students and training 3,000 teachers. And this is just the beginning - vocational schools and tens of thousands more students are next. All of this raises some big, tough questions: • Should we be teaching AI literacy in preschool? • What happens to this year’s high school grads if their major becomes obsolete before they even finish college? • Will four-year universities need to completely rethink their purpose? • Are we still teaching to standards that just don’t make sense in this new reality? • How do we keep standards relevant — without overwhelming already stretched educators? Michigan, Estonia, the UAE, and China (yep, they’re doing it too) are all moving quickly to answer these questions. Are we?