STEM Partners WA

STEM Partners Washington (SPW) is a Washington non-profit corporation created to serve as a fiscal agent for STEM-education organizations and projects in Washington State, with a current focus on support of the Olympia School District (OSD) competitive STEM Robotics Program.

The OSD program utilizes FIRST® Robotics teams, both in-classroom and after school, to teach STEM concepts to students who may eventually decide to pursue a career in a STEM field.

Our first OSD client was the Olympia Robotics Federation (ORF), FRC Team 4450, for whom we serve as a full-service fiscal agent.  In March 2022 Team 4450 was presented with an Engineering Inspiration Award for its plan to raise the level of robotics for students in Cairo Egypt.

We are currently helping to manage a fundraising campaign in support of ORF's plan to send 17 student team members to Egypt in August 2022.  The students will conduct training programs there to help Egyptian students get a foothold in the FIRST Technology Challenge (FTC) program.  

Since September 2021 Team 4450 has been mentoring a grade-school robotics team in Cairo via Zoom. This team currently builds Lego-based robots using block programming. Team 4450 is committed to helping them make a move that jumps from LEGO-based robots to metal-based robots with more advanced programming. 

ORF will accomplish this by traveling to Cairo to host an in-person, hands-on two-week summer program called Cairo Bots to train 45 Egyptian students between the ages of 9 and 16 to raise them up to the FTC level. The program will give these students an opportunity to apply real-world STEM concepts and develop the skills of future engineers!

Since taking on ORF as a client SPW has added financial management of funds for FTC teams at Capital and Olympia High Schools, and are in the process of a major update to the ORF website , and to the STEMpals website which serves the entire range of OSD Robotics teams.

A website for STEM Partners is currently under construction and will be located at www.STEMpartnersWA.org.

SPW was awarded 501(c)(3) status by the IRS in February, 2021. 

We currently have a Board of three;

                        o  Richard Corn, President

                        o  Peter Cook, Secretary 

                        o  James Musslewhite, Treasurer         

All board members have extensive participation in all levels of FIRST robotics since 2012, have helped create new robotics teams, and served key roles in the development of OSD policies that fostered ORF's existence as a joint effort of the district and the community.  All three have long histories of service as ORF Mentors, helping to guide the team's development over its first ten years. 

Mr. Corn has served as President of the STEM Robotics Advisory Committee for Career and Technical Education in the Olympia School District since its inception.  He is the lead mentor for the ORF build and programming teams. He owns a successful software company and previously managed a racing car team.

Mr. Cook is an engineer-economist who has built teams in many countries around the world. He helps manage three non-profits and is one of the founders of the Faith Alliance for Tiny Houses in Thurston County.

Mr. Musslewhite played a pivotal role in STEM Partners' approval by the IRS as a 501(c)3.  He has a long history of service in various capacities in the nonprofit sector.   He was Executive Director of United Communities AIDS Network (UCAN) for 18 months and served as Board Member and Treasurer of Thurston Community Television (TCTV, now TC Media), having been appointed to that role by the Olympia City Council.