On Thursday, the Tri-State STEM+M Academy celebrated the grand opening of their school facility, located at The Point industrial park in South Point.

The school, which is set to open its doors to students for its first classes in August, will function as the county’s newest public school with classes in science, technology engineering, math and medicine and will be led by director Jayshree Shaw and lead teacher Alicia Spears.

With U.S. manufacturing long in decline and the nation’s economy adapting to new demands and requiring new sets of job skills, the careers of the future will depend on expertise in the fields.

In addition to the new school, most school districts in Lawrence County also offer STEM courses of the same type to students, coordinated by Collins Career Center through its Project Lead the Way Program under Matt Monteville and Gary Salyer. Symmes Valley High School is the latest to add these courses, with its STEM program set to begin in the fall.

It is good to see that students in the county have multiple options to ensure that they get the best possible education in high school, and the hard work of Shah, Spears, Monteville and Salyers will pay off in preparing the leaders of tomorrow.