STEM

AT&T Gives $25,000 to MDBio Foundation to Boost STEM Education in Maryland

• By Richard Chang
• 11/15/16

AT&T is contributing $25,000 to the Maryland-based MdBio Foundation to boost science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the Old Line State.

The contribution will support MdBio programs for underserved high school and rising middle school students, including the MdBioLab, a mobile laboratory that travels across the state providing students with hands-on STEM experiences.

Brian Gaines, CEO of the MdBio Foundation, made the announcement during Tuesday’s Advancing Tomorrow’s Leaders in STEM (ATLAS) event at the University of Maryland BioPark in Baltimore. ATLAS is a college and career readiness symposium that offers students underrepresented in STEM an opportunity to connect with business leaders, colleges, government agencies and potential employers. More than 100 students from the Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy, a Baltimore City public STEM school, participated in the symposium, according to a news release.

MdBioLab is designed to increase student interest in science and make them aware of career opportunities in the biosciences field. Each week during the school year, MdBioLab visits high schools across Maryland and enables students to explore the life sciences through hands-on experiments ranging from crime scene forensics to the diagnosis of diseases. Since its launch in 2003, MdBioLab has served more than 130,000 students and 2,000 teachers across all of Maryland’s school districts, according to a news release.

“It’s very important for students across Maryland to have strong STEM skills,” said LaTara Harris, AT&T’s regional director for external affairs, in a statement. “Employers, like AT&T and many others, need candidates with these skills. The work of the MdBio Foundation, including the mobile lab visits across the state, help students gain the skills and expertise they will need for success.”

For more information about MdBioLab, including school visits planned for the 2016-2017 school year, visit mdbiofoundation.org.