Casey Welch knows that appearances can be deceiving.
Standing around five-feet-nine inches tall and weighing in well under 200 pounds, the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of STEM Premier let his audience in on a little secret – not only had he attended Purdue University, but he had played college football for the Boilermakers as well.
Then, he asked them what position they thought he had played on the team.
“Why do I have to be a kicker, because I’m small?” Welch, who was a kicker at Purdue, joked with 11th-grade students at Aiken High School as they responded to his question during Monday’s assembly. “Why couldn’t I be fast?”
Welch was on hand at Aiken High to teach students about the advantages of the platform he co-founded, STEM Premier, which serves as an online crossroads of sorts where aspiring students, and colleges and universities, and corporations in search of talent can interact and share information. That had been one of the points behind his gridiron reveal – he says college recruiters and corporate talent scouts want access to as much information as possible so they can better assess a student’s overall makeup and personal abilities.
“You want to make sure and tell your story,” Welch told students. “They want to know what it is that separates you from everyone else out there. They want to know what sets you apart and makes you who you are as an individual.”
STEM Premier functions by engaging users through the near universal familiarity students and talent-seekers have in working with social media, such as the establishment and maintenance of a personal profile. The profile a student creates – depending upon its level of creativity and detail – can easily connect them with a college they are interested in or a potential employer. Collegiate recruiters and corporations always on the lookout for uniquely qualified talents stand to benefit as well, with the platform cutting out tons of legwork.
James Richter of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance and SC Futuremakers, says Aiken County has been an implementation leader in South Carolina, with over 3,400 current students having established STEM Premier profiles.
“The rest of the state has looked at what is happening here in Aiken County and figured out this is really something they should be doing as well. It was really the Aiken County story that got everyone’s attention,” Richter stated. “We just want to keep things going and keep making these important connections.”
Through the STEM Premier platform, students can record videos highlighting specific projects they have completed or interests they have, narrow their area of interest to four-year or two-year institutions, or military opportunities, and even jumpstart the resume-building process through a unique export feature.
“This is a way for Aiken County students to showcase their skills, talents and abilities in a very meaningful way and be discovered by local, regional and national colleges and companies as they are able to differentiate themselves from other students,” Welch stated.
With partnerships representing access to billions of scholarship dollars, STEM Premier also offers students a pathway to additional financial aid.
“The scholarship aspect is huge,” Welch added. “One of our partners represents around 20 billion dollars in financial aid, so this platform helps streamline that effort for students. It’s also something students are able to take with them from high school to college and into their professional life.”
Aiken High student Bryan Melvin said he was excited about the opportunity.
“I liked the presentation and thought it was a pretty interesting way to have colleges find you, and then have the ability to reach out to different colleges as well,” Melvin commented. “I’m thinking about teaching or going into pre-veterinary studies, so I am planning to set up a profile and get started soon.”
Melvin said schools he is currently looking at include Penn State University, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Clemson University and Georgia Tech.
For information, visit www.stempremier.com.
Link to District Press Release: PR 2016 STEM PREMIER KICKOFF