WVPEC, WVU Extension launching STEAM Innovation Alliance to cultivate young entrepreneurs

From classrooms to communities, West Virginia University is investing in the next generation of West Virginia innovators with the launch of the STEAM Innovation Alliance.

Led by the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative's STEAM Technical Assistance Center and WVU Extension, the Alliance will bring middle and high school educators and students, entrepreneurship experts, and community partners together to create new opportunities to connect science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics with entrepreneurship and real-world problem-solving.

Supported by a grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER Initiative, the effort represents a $2.6 million investment in STEAM and entrepreneurship education, including $1.14 million in matching funding and in-kind University support.

"This grant is an investment in West Virginia's future - one that recognizes that innovation begins with opportunity and that our educators are essential to creating that opportunity for students," said WVU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Beverly Wendland.

"The STEAM Innovation Alliance will help students develop not only the technical skills they need to succeed, but also the creativity and entrepreneurial mindset to imagine and build what comes next for their communities. This is exactly the kind of partnership that reflects the University's land-grant mission: working with communities across our state to expand opportunity, strengthen our workforce, and help West Virginia thrive."

Over the next three years, the Alliance is projected to serve 300 educators and 15,000 students through various efforts as part of a collaboration that includes WVPEC's STEAM TAC specialists, who help equip teachers across West Virginia with hands-on, interactive STEAM learning experiences, and WVU Extension Young Innovators faculty, who partner with teachers to deliver hands-on programming to prepare students with real-world entrepreneurial skills.

Through these activities, students will learn leadership, ideation, problem solving, teamwork, and communication skills.

STEAM TAC specialists will develop a new STEAM-focused track for the Young Innovators program, incorporating hands-on engineering design and real-world technical skills. In turn, Young Innovators' entrepreneurship experts will help integrate business planning, problem validation, and workforce readiness into STEAM TAC lessons.

"The WVPEC STEAM TAC has statewide reach to schools, educators, and workforce partners, delivering innovative and engaging immersions that emphasize real-world learning, problem solving, collaboration, and career awareness," WVPEC Executive Director Donna Hoylman Peduto said.

"WVU Extension's Young Innovators Program is perfectly aligned to the focus of STEAM TAC as it develops an entrepreneurial mindset in students that encompasses similar goals and outcomes. We look forward to working with Extension faculty to develop skill sets in students that will serve them well throughout their lives."

The initiative will also provide sustained professional learning opportunities for middle and high school teachers. During the 2026-27 academic year, STEAM TAC will partner with four West Virginia counties to recruit teacher cohorts for professional development focused on STEAM and entrepreneurship education developed in partnership with WVU Extension.

The effort will expand to six additional county cohorts in the second year and eight more in the third year, creating a growing statewide network of educators equipped to bring innovative, career-connected learning opportunities to their classrooms.

"The Young Innovators program gives youth an opportunity to explore entrepreneurship and innovation in their home school as well as the skills and confidence needed to turn ideas into opportunities," said Lauren Prinzo, a community and economic development specialist with WVU Extension.

"This investment is helping to cultivate the talent that will drive West Virginia's future workforce, economy, and communities. We are excited to collaborate with WVPEC to expand that access and enrich program content to support the future success of West Virginia youth."

A third component of the initiative will focus on developing new pathways for educators to demonstrate and build expertise. The STEAM Innovation Alliance will develop, pilot, and refine a new microcredential in STEAM and entrepreneurship education, with the goal of expanding it into a stackable series in partnership with the WVU Mountaineer Micro Academy.

Teachers participating in the regional cohorts will be encouraged to pursue the microcredential, which also will be available to in-service and preservice educators across the state.

The award is made available through ARC's POWER Initiative, which directs federal resources toward projects that expand economic opportunities in Appalachian coal communities through workforce development, entrepreneurship, and other strategies designed to support high-quality, in-demand jobs, and economic diversification.

-WVU-

kb/9/14/26