Right now there are clear opportunities for employment in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, commonly referred to as STEM, but not enough students are studying these crucial subjects. Skyline College, along with community colleges across the nation, face the unique challenge of building awareness of these opportunities within our student body, and to give students the tools and skills they need to pursue them, succeed in STEM, and help to close the skills gap between education and employment.
That’s why the College is proud to announce a new partnership with Base 11, a workforce development and entrepreneurial innovation company focused on creating the next generation of leaders in STEM. Base 11 specifically partners with community colleges to provide under-resourced students with hands on training in STEM entrepreneurialism and exclusive access to competitive internships.
Beginning next semester, Base 11 and Skyline College will be working together to create a new innovation center, called a Fabrication Lab, in Building 8. This lab will be a dedicated space providing STEM students with a foundation in what it takes to create a start-up venture using their STEM ideas and innovation. Students will be provided with the instruction and tools to take their ideas and develop them into a STEM related business enterprise.
Through this partnership, Skyline College students will also gain access to incredible paid internship opportunities at institutions like USC, The Smithsonian, UC Irvine, and CalTech.
At its root, Base 11 is striving to help create a sustainable middle class in America, and the organization recognizes that education and entrepreneurship in the STEM field is one of the most viable ways to help do just that. As a measure of their success, they have established the Base 11 Victory Circle with the goal of empowering 11,000 high potential, low-resource students by 2020.
The Base 11 Victory Circle is made up of students who have achieved admission to a four-year university to pursue a STEM-related major, have secured employment in a STEM-related job, or have developed a STEM-related business enterprise. Skyline College is proud to have representation in this group.
On Monday, November 16, Skyline College student and Victory Circle member Nicholas Mejia will be giving a presentation on his recent Base 11 internship at CalTech. For students and faculty interested in learning more about Base 11, their partnership with Skyline College, and the internships they offer, please attend the presentation at 4:30 p.m. in Building 7, Room 7106.
Article by Connor Fitzpatrick
