DAYTONA BEACH, FL (July 28, 2010) - Daytona State has been awarded the 2010 Business-Education Partnership Award by STEMflorida, an organization dedicated to strengthening the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills of Florida’s students as a way to address the increasing demand for jobs requiring strong foundations in these disciplines.
The award recognizes the Daytona Racing Challenge, a program developed for middle and high school students by the College’s Division of Economic Development in conjunction with a variety of public and private stakeholders throughout Volusia and Flagler counties and the Central Florida region at large.
The racing challenge is part of the Daytona Motorsports Summer Academy currently under way at Daytona State’s Advanced Technology College. Using scale-model remote controlled racing cars, students in grades 8-12 form race teams to learn about a variety of technologies and STEM-related skills. They also are exposed to STEM-related career opportunities and learn how STEM disciplines impact the world around them. Creating a learning environment that is engaging and fun has been found to be an effective strategy to encourage students to stay in school. 
PHOTO OP: The 2010 Daytona Racing Challenge culminates on Friday, July 30 at 2 p.m. at the ATC, when student teams demonstrate the skills they’ve learned in a final racing competition. The ATC is located at 1770 Technology Blvd., Daytona Beach (1/2-mile north of LPGA Blvd. on Williamson Blvd.)
The Daytona Racing Challenge began in 2008, a year after the Motorsports Daytona Beach Executive Committee was launched. The motorsports committee and the racing challenge curricula was established in the area by Daytona Beach City Commissioner Cassandra Reynolds. The committee’s charge was to generate fresh ideas on how to enhance economic growth in the region by celebrating and promoting the motorsports industry here. It was quickly realized that in order to promote the industry, the STEM workforce must be highly developed. This included the need to introduce students at a young age to STEM career possibilities. This soon led to an education initiative to encourage middle and high school students to stay in school and study science, technology, engineering and math.
Partnering with the College were the Volusia County and Flagler County school systems, Ten80 Education, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, Florida Power & Light, the NASCAR Foundation, International Speedway Corp. and Bank of America.
For more information about STEMflorida, visit http://www.stemflorida.net.
To learn more about the Daytona Motorsports Summer Academy, please contact Cynthia Geffen at (386) 506-3924 or e-mail geffenc@DaytonaState.edu.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Glyn Johnston, Vice President, Marketing, Communications and Events, (386) 506-4499, johnstg@DaytonaState.edu
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