Our system has an outstanding partnership with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) which provides access to GTRI researchers and industry professionals through technology demonstrations, lab tours, interviews, professional learning opportunities for teachers, and remote and in-person interactions. This collaboration brings world-class researchers and their laboratories into K-12 classrooms, providing rich, up-to-date science and computational thinking content that supports and empowers experiential learning through project-based learning and hands-on opportunities for students.

For example, in 2018-2019, through this partnership, students at a variety of Fayette County Public elementary, middle and high schools engaged with GTRI opto-electronics researchers through an interactive traveling laser museum that visited their schools. Another collaboration allowed elementary and middle school students at various schools to use distance learning videoconferencing to work with the GTRI Severe Storm Research lab to learn about technology and resources focused on developing a better understanding and prediction of tornadoes and severe weather. On STEM Day, science students at J.C. Booth Middle School worked on a project with piezoelectricity researchers, and Rising Starr Middle School students interacted with virtual reality/augmented reality experts at GTRI to think creatively about how those technologies can be applied in everyday applications.

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