Sharon Sixth Graders Take Park in STEM Educational Program

DIGITS is an innovative program that connects sixth-grade classes in Massachusetts schools, including Sharon, with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) professionals to inspire student interest in STEM subjects and careers. 

STEM professionals, recruited as volunteers by DIGITS, presented to more than 2500 sixth grade students in southeastern Massachusetts over the course of the academic year, talking about their careers and emphasizing the importance of math and science in today’s world. 

First implemented in Massachusetts schools in 2009, DIGITS STEM volunteers are visiting 16 schools in 15 communities across the region.  Participating communities include Attleboro, Avon, Braintree, Dartmouth, East Taunton, Harwich, Mashpee, Norfolk, Plainville, Sandwich, Sharon, Somerset, West Yarmouth, Weymouth and Wrentham.  

Of the 16 schools in Southeastern Massachusetts hosting volunteers, four schools are participating for the first time this year, 12 have participated in the program previously, and 5 schools have participated for all four years of the program’s operation. 

The DIGITS program is based on a uniquely designed alphabet with a STEM icon embedded in each letter. This alphabet has evolved into a set of hands-on activities that volunteers use to engage students in the classroom.  The program also provides a set of online STEM resources to teachers to supplement classroom instruction over the course of the academic year.  The goals of the program are to demonstrate to students the connections between the math and science they study in school and the world around them and to open their minds to the exciting career opportunities that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields provide.  

DIGITS is available free of charge to all Massachusetts public schools with a sixth grade.

“Building STEM literacy among America's next generation of leaders is critical,” said DIGITS CEO Joyce L. Plotkin.  “Our volunteers from across the state are great role models for the students, represent multiple STEM sectors, and are broadly reflective of the workforce - 44-percent women, 24-percent minority, and 56-percent with advanced degrees.” 

Local Massachusetts organizations including Accurounds, Akamai, BSC Engineering, Commonwealth of MA Dep’t. of Public Health, EMD Serono, Louis Berger Engineering, Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management, Massachusetts Division of Marine Sciences, Massachusetts State Police Laboratories, Meditech, Nuance, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Propel Careers, University of Massachusetts, Waquoit Bay Research Reserve, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and Year UP, have provided  32 STEM professionals to visit the region’s classrooms. 

 “As a leading STEM company headquartered in Massachusetts, we are keenly aware of the need for STEM education in Massachusetts schools.  DIGITS is successful in increasing student awareness of the opportunities in STEM fields and we are proud to have had 23 employees participating in DIGITS over the last 4 years and delivering the DIGITS message,” stated Howard Messing, -president-CEO of Meditech.  

Meditech was one of the first companies to provide private sector funding for DIGITS and has been an annual contributor for the last 3 program years. 

DIGITS is now in its fourth year of implementation and has been recognized by the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council with its @Scale endorsement, acknowledging DIGITS as a successful, measurable, and scalable program. Over the last three years of the program, 36,273 students in 229 schools in 127 cities/towns were motivated to study math and science by 409 volunteers from 90 companies/state agencies.  

Last year, the program reached 20-percent of all sixth graders in the state, more than 14,000 students.  Over 50-percent of the schools that participated are Title 1 schools with a high percentage of at risk students.  

Students reached by the program showed a statistically significant increase in their interest in and knowledge of STEM subjects and careers and an increase in interest in STEM-related after school activities.