YORK – Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe today joined students in York—and others logging in virtually from sites across Pennsylvania—to kick off the first annual Keystone STEM Challenge, formerly known as the Governor’s STEM Competition.
With the prompt, “Brainstorm and design a change, big or small, that could improve Pennsylvania schools,” Acting Secretary Rowe encouraged participants to work together to solve the problem by building, coding, and designing a solution during a day-long STEM-a-thon event. Students then shared shark-tank style presentations of their projects to a panel of judges.
“One of the most impactful ways to engage learners is by offering hands-on educational experiences with practical, real-world applications,” said Acting Secretary Rowe. “This interactive and immersive event will encourage students across the Commonwealth to flex their problem-solving and critical-thinking muscles while adding innovation and creativity in a fun, meaningful way.”
The Keystone STEM Challenge is a free, one-day statewide challenge open to students in grades 5–12. The event invites teams of up to five students to tackle a real-world problem, design an innovative solution, and present their ideas to judges drawn from industry, education, and the community. Each team applies design thinking and problem-solving to develop a creative solution that showcases the ingenuity and teamwork required to solve complex real-world challenges.
While the main event will be hosted statewide each fall, regional Keystone Competitions take place throughout the school year across Pennsylvania’s 29 intermediate units (IUs). This regional flexibility allows schools to hold the event at a time that fits their schedule, remove barriers like preparation time or travel, and enable more students to participate.
Governor Josh Shapiro is committed to ensuring Pennsylvania’s public schools have the funding they need to provide a world-class education to the Commonwealth’s 1.7 million learners. His proposed 2025-26 budget requests a $75 million increase for public K-12 schools, a $526 million increase for the Ready To Learn Block Grant, and a $40 million increase for special education.
Last year, 348 school districts received $493 million in Ready To Learn Block Grant funding to maintain, expand, and/or create programs, with STEM education being the third most common use of funding. More than $38.8 million was used over the past school year to bolster STEM education opportunities in schools across the Commonwealth.