Nonprofit Joins Forces with Nation's Leading Port Authority to Bring Student-Led Environmental Sustainability Adventure to Area Schools

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Mar 07, 2023, 08:35 ET

Learning Undefeated has teamed up with the Port of Corpus Christi in environmental safety and sustainability initiative.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. and CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, March 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading U.S. port in total revenue tonnage has partnered with STEM nonprofit Learning Undefeated to teach high school students about environmental sustainability through their newest innovation, the Breakout Box: Environmental Mission. This new STEM program empowers and educates high school students about current environmental issues while also opening career opportunities in the energy industry.

STEM educators from the nonprofit collaborated with subject matter experts from Port of Corpus Christi to custom-design this new experience, which builds participant STEM skills through the lens of current environmental issues. Students explore a variety of environmental strategies and assess each strategy's ability to meet goals while also taking into account criteria such as cost, impact on the local community, sea turtle migration patterns, and other ecological factors.

"When students step into the PORT-Able Learning Lab, they are immersed in an adventure that requires them to use the practices of science and engineering while learning how to be good environmental stewards," said Jennifer Colvin, Chief Innovation Officer of Learning Undefeated. "The Port of Corpus Christi generates nearly one hundred thousand jobs in our Coastal Bend community. This new PORT-Able Learning Lab allows future innovators to explore career paths in the maritime industry and learn about real-world considerations, like time, budget, and environmental factors."

The Breakout Box: Environmental Mission is a brand-new experience that is part of the PORT-Able Learning Lab, an immersive learning theater housed in a traveling 22-foot shipping container. High school participants are immersed in an environmentally-focused STEM adventure to build a new cargo ship dock using computational thinking and the practices of science and engineering to crack a series of puzzles to help the Environmental Team decide on mitigations for a new dock site.

For more information about Learning Undefeated, visit https://www.learningundefeated.org/.

About Learning Undefeated

Learning Undefeated provides life-changing STEM experiences for under-resourced communities by providing equitable access to education and inspiring students to imagine their own success. Through innovative and experiential education programs for grades K-12, we are promoting gender and race equality in STEM careers and building the workforce that will drive the innovation economy. Learning Undefeated's flagship education program features mobile STEM labs that have provided hands-on learning opportunities to over one million K-12 students in all 50 states since 2003. The nonprofit's Drop Anywhere Lab won 2022 Best of STEM Awards for the Social Impact: Promoting Diversity & Equity Inclusion category.

Learning Undefeated also operates several other celebrated STEM education programs, including the Young Science Explorers Program, a summer camp for middle school students, Advancing Tomorrow's Leaders in STEM (ATLAS) College and Career Exploration Program, STEM Leadership Experience, student competitions, after-school programs, curriculum development and disaster recovery education.

Visit learningundefeated.org or follow us on social media @LearningUNDFTD.

About the Port of Corpus Christi

As a leader in U.S. energy exports and a major economic engine of Texas and the nation, the Port of Corpus Christi is the largest port in the United States in total revenue tonnage. Strategically located on the western Gulf of Mexico with a 36-mile, soon to be 54-foot (MLLW) deep channel, the Port of Corpus Christi is a major gateway to international and domestic maritime commerce. The Port of Corpus Christi has excellent railroad and highway network connectivity via three North American Class-1 railroads and two major interstate highways. With an outstanding staff overseen by its seven-member commission, the Port of Corpus Christi is "Moving America's Energy." For more information about the Port of Corpus Christi, visit www.portofcc.com.

SOURCE Learning Undefeated