Our Mission
Prince William County is located in Northern Virginia, approximately an hour from Washington, D.C. It has one of the largest public school systems in the state, and is just next to Fairfax and Loudon counties. Unfortunately, even though geographically, Prince William County is near these two other counties, in terms of STEM education, Prince William County is severely lacking. While Loudon County attracts the best and brightest from all over the county to its Academy of Science (AoS program) and Fairfax attracts only the best of the best to its Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Prince William's Governor's School at Innovation Park has seen its demand drop, even allowing rising high school seniors to apply for the once junior-only application process. Furthermore, with state-wide budget cuts of approximately $4.4 million to the Virginia Commission for the Arts, many programs that previously fostered creativity in young children are reducing their class sizes or programs altogether. We hope to change this drastically by planting the seed that will lead to future interests in STEM that may have been restricted due to these cuts.
The main goal of Project AIMESS is to provide local elementary school students with opportunities to explore the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. These opportunities, we hope, will be carried with the students through secondary school and increase their interest in these fields to hopefully influence their choice of college major and career. Through hands-on and interactive learning activities, we will introduce students to new thinking ideas and strategies that they will be able to use as they get older.
The main goal of Project AIMESS is to provide local elementary school students with opportunities to explore the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. These opportunities, we hope, will be carried with the students through secondary school and increase their interest in these fields to hopefully influence their choice of college major and career. Through hands-on and interactive learning activities, we will introduce students to new thinking ideas and strategies that they will be able to use as they get older.