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Message from founding educator, Beverly Simmons

"Ten80 Education is a team of engineers, scientists, teachers, professors and parents all dedicated to a single mission.  We have joined forces because we see the need to help our students and teachers understand STEM subjects, understand STEM careers and understand how they affect the world around us. 

Ten80 partners include NASCAR, Texas Instruments, 4H, The SME Education Foundation, SolidWorks and the NC Motorsports Association; all entities that share the same, progressive vision for education.

Ten80 Education was founded back in the 1980’s when I was teaching middle school science outside of Atlanta.  Though I was considered a “highly acclaimed educator”, I felt something was missing.  I asked local STEM professionals in my community (though they weren’t called that then) to join me in the classroom and help us understand what science and math were good for.  Though we didn’t know it at the time, the engineers and technicians and professors who answered my call were forming the first Ten80 teams.  Since then, Ten80 Education has continued to pair STEM professionals with educators to provide professional development for K-12 teachers and to develop innovative and effective supplemental K-12 programs like the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge.

Something I learned in those early years was that students need to practice math and science on their way to STEM careers; just as children practice baseball or basketball on their way to the MLB or the NBA.  Math2Go Challenges and the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge build on students’ love of racing, cars, design and competition.  Even if motorsports isn’t interesting to them, cars and the prospect of driving is.  Cars mean freedom to young people.  We’ve drawn on this interest in cars to foster an interest in STEM.  Though I had never watched a NASCAR or F1 race in my life when my partners and I first tested this concept, I became an admirer of everything that goes into a racing team and racing event.  I absolutely fell in love with the sport when I saw how it engaged students in STEM."

Beverly Simmons
Former Middle School Science Teacher
Vice Chair of the Ten80 STEM Education Center, a 501(c)3 organization
dedicated to expanding student access to STEM education