Building for the Future by Connecting Curious Minds to Regional STEM Resources

The Corridor plays a major role in talent-building for Florida’s innovation economy — expanding points of entry, forging new partnerships, investing in important programs and developing a strong ecosystem with boundless opportunity.

STEM Resources

• Ignite Outreach: Inspiring Generations of New Inventors Through Engagement. IGNITE is a trailblazing outreach program of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame that teaches K-12 students how to be creative problem solvers, strategic thinkers, and innovators. It is designed to give students the knowledge and tools they need to cultivate an innovation mindset—and build life and career skills for their .
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida: Their 40 Clubs in 6 counties are located in neighborhoods that, on average, rank at the 12th percentile for household income and the 71st percentile for incarceration rates. Club families pay either nothing or a nominal fee for their children to attend.. Many of these clubs offer programs focused on STEM and are looking for new exciting ways to encourage students to pursue STEM.
• Boy Scouts of America – Central Florida Council: The Central Florida Council is one of the largest youth serving agencies in Central Florida, instilling timeless values of character, citizenship and leadership in each young man and woman who enters the Scouting program. Boy Scouts offer STEM Badges that often require students to speak to a member of that profession.
• Girl Scouts of Citrus: Girl Scouts create the world they want to live in and strive to make it better every single day. They explore their strengths, take on new challenges, and can always be themselves, regardless of background or ability. Girl Scouts also have STEM badges that often require completion of STEM activities that are great opportunities for organizations to host.
• Florida Agriculture in the Classroom: A non-profit organization that provides educational resources, grants and other programs to help Pre-K through 12th grade educators incorporate agricultural concepts into their core subject area classes. The goal of FAITC is to expand youth awareness and understanding of Florida agriculture and natural resources by integrating agricultural concepts into core educational disciplines and supporting programs.
• Scientist in Every Florida School: The mission of the SEFS program is to engage Florida K-12 students and teachers in cutting-edge research by providing science role models and experiences that inspire the future stewards of our planet. Participating scientists must have a research focus related to Earth systems—air, water, land and life — which is in line with TESI’s mission to advance public understanding of environmental issues.
• Cyber Florida: The Florida Center for Cybersecurity, also known as Cyber Florida, was created by the State in 2014 to help Florida become a national leader in cybersecurity education, academic and practical research, and community outreach and engagement.
• Operation K12: Operation K12 is a joint endeavor between Cyber Florida and the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (FCIT) at the University of South Florida to infuse cybersecurity education into K-12 classrooms across the state. It works to educate students, teachers, and parents about safer online habits, inspire students to explore this critical and rapidly growing field through hands-on experiences, and empower teachers with the support and materials needed to prepare students for careers in cybersecurity.
• Tech Sassy Girlz: Tech Sassy Girlz is designed to provide girls from grades 6 – 12 with exposure and access to the STEM fields through college preparation, career readiness, events, mentoring, and hands-on learning experiences. They’ll connect with women leaders in STEM-related fields, participate in workshops and technology tours, have the chance to network with industry professionals, and intern with tech companies.

career + technical student organizations

• Florida Business Professionals of America (BPA): Business Professionals of America is the leading CTSO (Career and Technical Student Organization) for students pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology and other related career fields. Florida BPA was started in 2000 and has grown to accommodate over 1,400 members. The Workplace Skills Assessment Program (WSAP) prepares students to succeed and assesses real-world business skills and problem-solving abilities in finance, management, IT and computer applications. It is BPA’s showcase program and facilitates students demonstrating their career skills at regional, state and national conferences in 120 competitive events.
• Florida Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA): Promoting personal growth and leadership development through Family and Consumer Science education. Focusing on the multiple roles of family members, wage earners, and community leaders, members develop skills for life through character development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge, and career preparation.
• Florida Future Farmers of America Association (FFA): FFA members embrace concepts taught in agricultural classrooms nationwide, build valuable skills through hands-on experiential learning and each year demonstrate their proficiencies in competitions that showcase real-world agricultural skills.
• Florida HOSA – Future Health Professionals: Future Health Professionals is a global student-led organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services and is designed for student leaders pursuing careers in the healthcare industry.
• Florida Public Service Association, Inc. (FPSA): As a CTSO, FPSA provides coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare for further Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education and careers in the criminal justice, law studies, firefighting, public administration and teaching assisting through career development events.
• Florida SkillsUSA, Inc: SkillsUSA empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. SkillsUSA improves the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the development of Framework skills that include personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics.
• Florida Technology Student Association, Inc. (TSA): The mission of the Technology Student Association is to prepare our membership for the challenges of a dynamic world by promoting technological literacy, leadership, and problem solving, resulting in personal growth and opportunity.