Everyone knows of Amazon, and by now, most of the Nonahood is well aware of the giant company staking ground right in our backyard. The massive 850,000-square-foot Amazon Fulfillment Center is scheduled to have its doors open just in time for the 2018 holiday season. The colossal building is located on Boggy Creek Road, just past the accompanying 417 exit. You can’t miss it. The company will produce about 1,500 jobs in the community, according to Mike Bauer, Amazon’s assistant general manager.
Amazon obviously supports science, technology and engineering with its wide array of varying products, and the company wants to support and invest in our future as well. Amazon is investing in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs at local schools to ensure the children of today and tomorrow receive the very best hands-on education.
Osceola Science Charter School (OSCS) was selected by Amazon to receive $10,000 worth of equipment to make a significant impact on education. A partnership with the super company can warrant just that. OSCS opened in August 2016 and had approximately 200 students. The school hopes to grow from its current 270 students to 500 students for the 2018 school year. OSCS is a tuition-free charter school with kindergarten through grade four, eventually expanding to grade eight.
Bauer has been with Amazon for about 4½ years in the Florida sector and believes that these donations will help shape our future.
You are the innovators of tomorrow,” said Bauer to the elementary-aged students at OSCS. “We understand that the jobs of tomorrow are going to require stronger STEM skills out there, to be successful out there, so we looked and saw where we could find a program that was encouraging that STEM hands-on learning, and we found the Osceola Science Charter School. [The school is] igniting those young minds on how to learn for that so they are the innovators of tomorrow.”
Murat Cetin, the principal of OSCS, is more than thrilled to introduce more exciting products to help his young students discover their interests and passions before the distractions like hormones and/or caring about what other people think begin to set in and influence their decisions. Most STEM programs focus on high school, then middle and then elementary.
It is my philosophy that elementary school is the most important time for students to be immersed in STEM subjects,” said Principal Cetin. “In middle and high school, it can be difficult to pull students into the STEM field, as this period of life is full of distractions – but in elementary school, students have open minds and are able to latch onto new ideas quickly. We see this at Osceola Science Charter School all the time. Our students are eager and willing to try new concepts and engage with innovative technology.”
Around 75-80 percent of jobs are STEM related. NOW is the time to create change. NOW is the time to influence change. And who is a better influencer than THE company that completely changed the world of online shopping.
