The three challenges facing public school STEM education are lack of funding, curricular requirements, and lack of industry background knowledge.  To circumvent these issues, and to inspire a 21st Century Florida workforce, ESTE3M was developed. Originally put forth as a NSF grant proposal, the initiative would allow for teacher training in experiential and real-world aerospace competitions, particularly for teachers and students in Title I schools. 

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In addition to garnering substantial industry, professional,  and academic support including letters from Aerojet Rocketdyne, Florida Atlantic University, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a grant was provided by Florida Space Grant Consortium to provide a pilot teacher training program to be held Summer 2019.