2010 Trip to Washington D.C.
On June 15, 2010,Team RUSH traveled to Washington D.C. as a follow up to the 2009 trip. Since we have developed partnerships with the Intl Society for Tech in Ed (ISTE), National School Boards Assoc (NSBA), PTA, and NSF, this trip was to combine our expertise/resources and strengthen our mutual advocacy.
This trip, we advocated expanding the e-Rate program to pay for more technology in local districts, helping almost every school and library in the US. We advocated for EETT and the associated funding to allow local school districts to increase the adoption of STEM programs. We also advocated for the expansion of parent involvement and STEM in the reauthorization of ESEA/NCLB.
A highlight to this trip was meeting with and developing a relationship with Michael Lach, who is a special advisor at the Department of Education reporting directly to the President. We wanted to ensure that the Dept of Ed and the President fully understand the impact STEM will have on our future economy and we’ve positioned ourselves to be a promoter/resource in this process.
The first year, our trip was to meet people and develop partnerships - now we are working with our partners to speak on behalf of ALL the kids in the United States.
2009 Trip to Washington D.C.
On June 15, 2009,Team RUSH traveled to Washington D.C. to introduce ourselves and let our elected officials know that there is more to education than the classroom day; that after school activities can change the way kids look at education! The students spoke to their officals on the importance of Math, Science and Technology both through Team RUSH and CSMTech! The outcome of this trip was the development of our partnerships and relationships with ISTE, NSBA, PTA, NSF, Senators Levin and Stabenow, Congressmen Rogers, Ehlers, McCotter, Peters, and Kildee.
Meeting with Senator Levin
2010 Media Coverage: Article written by Patrick Riggs