(813) 785-3225
(813) 785-3225
Close your eyes…
Imagine something you have never seen.
Think of something you have never heard of.
Remember something nobody has ever told you.
Now…open your eyes, and from what you just thought about, tell me what you want to be when you grow up.
Without exposure to the various possibilities of careers, that’s what we are asking many kids to do. With EXPOSURE! your support will now give kids the basic information they need to answer the question of “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
EXPOSURE! goes inside the lives of Inventors, Scientists, Engineers, Stock Brokers, C-suite executives and anyone financially benefiting from careers in STEM related businesses. Tweens and Teens trying to find their way will conduct interviews with these successful adults.
About This Project:
Michelle Ragland Inc. addresses the social issues of generational poverty that plague our society with excessive expense in welfare, the prison system, and rising health care cost. Pew Research Center statistics show large income disparities between whites and minorities.
STEM Exposure provides educational and experiential opportunities for children to fulfill their dreams of having a career that supports a family outside of the cycle of poverty. We are based in the state of Florida. Sadly to say, only $10 thousand a year goes toward 1 student’s education but each Florida prisoner cost $20 thousand year. Simply keeping kids out of jail could be a big taxpayer relief!
We have heard the saying… "give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime and can feed his family".
STEM programs and resources are readily accessible to minorities and low income children. Jobs are available for STEM graduates so much so we often hear of a STEM employee shortage. But do kids know STEM jobs offer a substantial salary premium?
The average advertised salary for entry-level STEM jobs requiring a BA or higher is $66 thousand.
45% of ALL children live in low income homes consisting of a family of 4 making $44 thousand.
So out the graduation gate, a kid growing up in poverty has $22 thousand extra dollars than what he is used to sharing with his family.
That fact alone can encourage some to “pick up the fishing pole”. EXPOSURE! will show them how and why pursuing particular educational routes will be to their economic advantage.
If a lower income child is looking for a way out of poverty let STEM lead the way, right? Wrong, the big problem is in motivating kids to have an earlier interest in ADVANCED MATH and SCIENCE so they have the skill set and support to master the rigorous high school and college math required for STEM degrees. Exposure, motivation and determination must come as early as middle school for kids to acquire the mental ability and social guidance to see a STEM degree through to the end.
Among students intending to major in STEM fields, just 2 % of those whose first college math course is pre-calculus or lower ever graduate with a STEM degree. That means to have a fighting chance; a child must get to at least calculus in high school.
Calculus is typically an elective offered to those who have endured many high level math classes starting in MIDDLE SCHOOL. When I was 12, calculus was nowhere near my radar. In fact the highest level math I took in high school was Algebra II thus my major of Communications!
Between the ages of 10 and 15 most kids only want cash, cars, clothes and a big house to keep it all in (“CREAM”–Cash Rules Everything Around ME–).
What could make kids take more math classes when they don’t have to and are not being guided in that direction? To quote rapper Jay Z…
Some rappers brag about making $40 thousand a week from illicit means. Through EXPOSURE! kids will see how $40 grand a week is chump change for top paid tech CEO’s who can make more than $200 thousand a week.
By showing STEM related careers CAN turn dreams into reality, we want to steer Black, Hispanic and low income kids into professions typically dominated by Asians and Whites.
Why do so many kids have the unrealistic dream of being rich and famous?
Who knows, but we will show with a good income you CAN do most things you can think of and few things you have never imagined.
The travel industry and tourism often goes undiscovered to people who are unaware of the affordability of various destinations. If nobody you know ever had disposable income to travel with, how would you know where to go?
Once we show kids how to get a good job when they grow up, we also want to let them see some of the fun they will be able to have with their own friends and families. YOLO will bring to life what is thought of as “celebrity only” experiences and how to do the some of the same things when you only have just a little extra money.
STEM exposure | 7832 Marsh Pointe Dr, Tampa, FL 33635
