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This case study describes the systems and structures used by Mid-America High School to leverage community partners to improve student engagement in STEM education. 2/n

STEM industry partners want to be helpful and schools want support but, typically, neither org has the time or capacity to do so. This case is special because it leverages the complementary assets of both groups to support student engagement: 1) authentic STEM contexts, role modeling, and cutting-edge skills (industry) and 2) positive youth development, curriculum, and instruction (schools). 3/n

I document the ways the partnership fundamentally changed the student learning experience and the systems created by adults to support and sustain these changes. 4/n

While the system relies on the unique attributes of this community, I hope this case study can be a North Start for other communities building their own partnerships. 5/n

This is written for practitioners. Want to get started? I suggest 1) starting with small student-adult interactions and 2) staffing personnel at the school and industry whose primary role is to facilitate mutually beneficial partnerships. 6/n

This chapter is part of an excellent book, Developing and Sustaining STEM Programs Across the K-12 Education Landscape, hot off the press today! https://www.igi-global.com/book/developing-sustaining-stem-programs-across/309684