Montgomery County Community College received a $500,000 PAsmart Advancing Grant to help launch the Challenger Learning Center in Pottstown. The grant will provide transportation scholarships for area school districts and also will be used to enhance technology, supplement the curriculum and provide for faculty training.
Montgomery County Community College recently received a $500,000 PAsmart Advancing Grant to help launch the Commonwealth’s first Challenger Learning Center at its Pottstown Campus.
PAsmart Advancing Grants are designed to support broad, cross-sector partnerships that expand access to computer science, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (CS/STEM) learning experiences. In 2019, Governor Tom Wolf secured $40 million to invest in education and workforce development through PAsmart grants.
“We are thrilled to receive the grant, especially the maximum amount,” said Therol Dix, J.D., MCCC Vice President of Pottstown Campus and Educational Partnerships. “We’ve received broad support for the Challenger Learning Center and the grant from the community, our K-12 partners and businesses and at all governmental levels, and we’re excited to provide this interactive STEM learning lab to the community.”
Earlier this year, MCCC announced its partnership with Challenger Center to bring a Challenger Learning Center to the region. Challenger Learning Centers offer a variety of hands-on STEM programs, with the core being the simulated space-themed missions that take place in a fully immersive Space Station and Mission Control. Aligned with national education standards and informed by real science data, these Missions encourage students to learn about STEM, introduce students to careers in these fields, and help students build critical 21st-century skills.
“As the community’s college, MCCC serves the educational needs of students of all ages and at all stages. By introducing STEM experiential learning at the middle-school level with the Challenger Learning Center, we hope to inspire students to pursue higher education and careers in these and other high-demand fields,” said Dr. Victoria L. Bastecki-Perez, MCCC President. “We are very grateful for the support of this grant that will make the Center accessible to more students.”
The grant funds will be used to expand technology and software, supplement the curriculum and provide training for faculty, said Dix. Most importantly, the grant will provide transportation scholarships that will enable more school districts to bring students to the Challenger Learning Center.
MCCC will be housing the Challenger Learning Center in its Sustainability and Innovation Hub at 140 College Drive adjacent to Riverfront Park. MCCC is refabricating the first two floors of the Hub where the space simulation rooms and technology will be located. The mezzanine space on the third floor will be used for community engagement. MCCC currently is in the process of hiring a director who will oversee the Challenger Learning Center and its programs.
“We will begin rolling out the programs next fall, which will coincide with the 25th anniversary of our Pottstown Campus,” Dix said. “However, we are mindful of the impact of COVID-19 and that school districts will be transitioning at that time, as well as the College.”
MCCC anticipates the Challenger Learning Center will be fully operational in the spring of 2022. In the meantime, MCCC is sharing Challenger’s online curriculum with area school districts.
For more information about the Challenger Learning Center, visit mc3.edu/Challenger.