Educators, industry partners, and community leaders from across southeast Minnesota will gather on Wednesday, February 11, from 4:30-7:30 pm at Wood Lake Meeting Center in Rochester for the STEM Forward Educator Forum: AI Unleashed, featuring a live FutureForward™ Pitch Competition spotlighting innovative, student-centered career education projects.

Hosted by Southeast Service Cooperative (SSC)’s STEM Forward Network and the Southeast Minnesota Career-Connected Workgroup, the Pitch Competition will showcase five school districts presenting bold, replicable approaches to career-connected learning.

Pitch Competition Projects Include:

Wabasha-Kellogg Public Schools – Student-Based Enterprise (SBE) - High school students apply, interview, and operate a real business, gaining résumé-ready experience in leadership, production, marketing, and customer service while serving real clients.

Red Wing Public Schools – Culturally Sustaining STEM Through Ceramics - An interdisciplinary course integrating identity patterns, linguistics, STEM, and creation to expand STEM access for multilingual learners through hands-on design, material science, and identity-affirming instruction.

The other participating districts are Rochester Public Schools, Austin Public Schools and Byron Public Schools.

Attendees will vote live during the event to award up to $20,000 in funding to support the most impactful ideas.

The event is made possible through generous sponsorship, including a presenting sponsorship from Mayo Clinic, whose support underscores the importance of strong education-to-workforce pathways in Southeast Minnesota.