Education investment creates STEM learning opportunities for local Utah students

STEM is for all students and teachers.

“STEM isn’t just for a certain type of student. STEM is for every student,” said Tyler Vigue, executive director of the Alpine School District Foundation in Utah. “And STEM isn’t just for some of the teachers. We want all of our teachers to infuse a STEM culture in our schools – regardless of the subjects they teach – so they can help students develop a mindset of problem-solving and critical thinking.”

A $9 million investment by our company will help do just that by creating a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning community for the Alpine district’s 85,000 students. The multiyear program – the first of its kind in Utah – will embed STEM concepts more deeply into coursework for students and provide STEM-oriented professional development for teachers and administrators.

Over the next four years, the investment is expected to help more than 100,000 students – including those in Lehi where we are expanding our manufacturing operations – learn and understand how STEM concepts apply to the real world and to their futures.

"We are excited this partnership will help our students develop essential knowledge and skills, preparing them for success in life and possible careers in the technology sector," said Shane Farnsworth, who is the district’s superintendent. "Working together with the city of Lehi, Texas Instruments and our schools, this collaborative investment will impact students and their families for many generations to come."

The investment will create many opportunities for students, said Jake Sigafus, who teaches technology, engineering and robotics at Viewpoint Middle School in the Alpine district.

“Our students will be able to get new hands-on experiences with robotics and other technologies,” Jake said. “Their first taste of these subjects can open up new career paths for them.”

Creating a College Readiness Program for students in southeastern Utah

In Utah, our investments in education extend beyond the Alpine school district to include Navajo Nation students and teachers in the state’s southeastern, Four Corners area. The TI Foundation gave a grant to the National Math and Science Initiative in 2022 to implement its College Readiness Program into the state’s remote San Juan School District, which serves 12 schools and 3,000 students, more than half of whom are Navajo.

“Someday I want to become an engineer or a technology teacher,” one of the San Juan students said after participating in an activity to build a tiny robot using simple supplies provided by the STEM Action Center. “It’s cool how things connect to make the robot work.”

A legacy of creating opportunities through education

Education has been the top philanthropic priority for TI and the TI Foundation for decades, with $71 million invested in STEM education since 2010. One of the hallmarks of these investments has been grants to Educate Texas to support three school districts in southern Dallas County, Texas, where STEM learning needs are significant but opportunities are low. This funding has provided transformational opportunities for the Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Lancaster Independent School Districts to train teachers and develop students’ skills in mathematical and scientific reasoning through the teaching, learning and application of STEM concepts similar to the initiative in the Alpine School District.

“For TI, our ambition to be a company that we are personally proud to work for and would want as our neighbor is ingrained in our culture,” said Andy Smith, who is director of giving and volunteering for our company and executive director of the TI Foundation. “This includes our commitment to education and specifically our support of programs that encourage strong learning foundations in STEM concepts such as problem-solving, creativity, critical thinking and teamwork.”