The foundation of the CEO of the Triad's third largest logistics firm has made a significant donation to STEAM learning in Winston-Salem.
Kaleideum, an interactive museum of arts, sciences and exploration, has received a $2.25 million gift from the L. David Mounts Foundation to name the L. David Mounts Agile City Room, house the Mounts Robotics Center at Kaleideum and fund and create an endowment for "Prism," which is the museum's engineering and innovation initiative.
Prism’s core activities include ongoing STEAM programming and special events at the museum, STEAM summer camps, STEAM workshops, field trip programs and robotics teams.
The gift includes a $500,000 challenge to businesses, individuals and organizations within the community to encourage Pre-K through 12th grade students living in Winston-Salem to participate in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) learning in an informal educational setting.
David Mounts, CEO and chairman of Winston-Salem headquartered Inmar Intelligence, said the success of today's generation of children will be dependent on their "proficiency and comfort" in STEAM-centric jobs, which are predicted to grow in the next ten years.
"We know this is true for future engineers and data scientists, but we also know that no area of life or field of work will be untouched by these areas," Mounts said. "The earlier our children are exposed to STEAM, the greater their success will be. I am glad to partner with Kaleideum in its mission to further hands-on education in these areas to our children and community.”
Along with the endowment from the L. David Mounts Foundation, Inmar Intelligence will loan engineering executives at no cost to Kaleideum to enable relevant programming.
The Mounts Robotics Center will provide high school students with facilities in which they will learn about integrated technology and build robots and drones.
Once the new Kaleideum opens at Third Street and Town Run Lane, the L. David Mounts Agile City Room and the Mounts Robotics Center will move to the new permanent location. The Prism initiative will also operate primarily from Kaleideum North until Kaleideum moves to the new downtown location, where the program will be permanently housed.
“With this transformational gift from the L. David Mounts Foundation, Kaleideum will cultivate a pervasive culture of engineering and innovation in our community through a wide array of learning opportunities,” said Elizabeth Dampier, executive director of Kaleideum.
“Many of these programs will be free or include scholarships for participants from low income households while providing compelling introductory experiences that are welcoming to all."
The Prism initiative will institute a continuum of STEAM learning, fostering progression as students advance to more rigorous and engaging activities over time. It will also bolster STEAM learning for traditionally underserved populations including girls, Black and Hispanic students, and students from low socioeconomic status households.
“We are working to maximize the number of learners who enthusiastically choose to persist in STEAM learning through increasingly complex programming levels,” Dampier said.
“We want to grow and hone the skills required to succeed in, and invent, future careers by laying the foundation for inspiring the successful engineers and innovators our society needs.”
