McKinstry Celebrates National STEM Day

Recognizing our partners advancing student outcomes in the Spokane, Washington region.

A strong science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education prepares students for future jobs in high-demand fields. Increasing STEM learning creates opportunities for students as they progress from K-12 to post-secondary education. As part of McKinstry’s commitment to supporting our local communities and the next generation of innovation in the built environment, we are proud to partner with organizations focused on STEM education access and learning.

While our offices across the country are involved in STEM outreach, our work in Spokane, Washington has accelerated over the past few years. As we celebrate National STEM Day, we’d like to highlight our partners working to advance student outcomes in the Spokane region.

Eastern Washington University
McKinstry is partnering with Eastern Washington University (EWU) to create pathways for students interested in STEM careers by supporting student and faculty research projects. These opportunities are available for Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Visual Communication and Design, Communication Studies, Addiction Studies, and Health Science students and faculty. One of the first funded projects focused on designing and deploying dynamic visual displays to educate people about energy consumption and decarbonization features of the innovative Catalyst Building.

The University of Washington (UW) Medical School and Gonzaga University
The UW School of Medicine and Gonzaga University Health Partnership is committed to advancing health-related research, entrepreneurship and interprofessional health sciences teaching in Spokane. The McKinstry Fellows Research Program provides funding to support interdisciplinary and interprofessional research teams of students and faculty mentors as they tackle modern healthcare challenges. One of these projects is focused on exploring and becoming more adaptive at fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion within rural clinical training sites by assessing rural physicians and other healthcare team members’ willingness, ability and cultural sensitivity to educating students of color.

Aspire Program
EWU’s near-peer mentorship program matches high school students with undergraduate mentors to increase career exploration and encourage them to earn a post-secondary degree or credential – particularly in STEM fields. It also encourages students to continue a post path towards the best-fit career pathway. In partnership with LaunchNW and Spokane Public Schools, McKinstry and the Innovia Foundation have provided funding to help scale the program to serve more students throughout the region.

Thank you to our partners for their efforts toward improving student outcomes!

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