PROVIDENCE – Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and the state’s top education officials were on hand this morning at Rhode Island College for the official opening of the $2.9 million R.I. Center for Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education.
The ribbon-cutting was followed by a meeting of the state’s PK-16 Council.
Besides the governor and RIC President Nancy Carriuolo, those attending the 9 a.m. STEM Center event included Frank Caprio, chairman of the R.I. Board of Governors for Higher Education, and Robert Flanders, chairman of the R.I. Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education.
The new facility – located in RIC’s Henry Barnard School, off Mount Pleasant Avenue – will serve as the center for training of current and future teachers. The initiative is part of a statewide drive to better prepare the Ocean State work force for the 21st century’s knowledge-based economy.
Information about the state Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education program is available at ristem.org. Information about the renovation of Rhode Island College facilities to create electronic classroom space for the STEM Center is available at www.ric.edu.
Information about other education programs in the state is available from the R.I. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and its R.I. Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education at www.ride.ri.gov.
