By: Mark Nedved
Roaming Progressive’s offices and corridors are thousands of dedicated science, technology, engineering and math (STEM ) experts. And chances are, if you ask any one of them, they can tell you about a teacher who helped ignite their passion for STEM subjects. Now, a handful of those STEM experts are taking the opportunity to return the favor by giving back in the classroom.
Beginning in 2011, Progressive employees started volunteering in local schools to share their STEM expertise by demonstrating their real-world uses.
Our first lesson involved math skills and explained the insurance concepts of risk and probability to third, fourth and fifth graders. Students played a driving board game where they collected data and plotted results on a graph. Under the guidance of their Progressive guest teachers, they worked on STEM skills as they looked for specific risk-related trends that could affect insurance rates.
And while that may sound too difficult for elementary students, they proved up to the challenge. But don't take our word for it— Hannah Paxton, a teacher at Kensington Intermediate School in Rocky River, Ohio told us, "I loved that the game embedded the math standards that students should learn in third grade. I loved that students were having fun playing the game and were learning at the same time."
Looks like everyone passed the first test, and now we're looking forward to more classroom assignments. Our goal is to inspire future STEM leaders just like certain teachers inspired us, and we're currently developing new lessons to get even more kids hooked on STEM subjects.
If you're interested in learning more about Progressive's community efforts, just visit progressive.com/socialresponsibility