Building Community and Industry Partners

Partner with Colorado Institutions of Higher Education

There are many ways to partner with Institutions of Higher Education. A few may be to:

contract with one to offer professional development for administrator, teachers and staff
conduct collaborative research projects
write grants with them to improve students outcomes
math and science partnership programs (MSPs)
work with them on building summer programs for your students
work with students on science fair projects

Complete listing of 2 and 4 year Public Institutions of Higher Education and Private Institutions of Higher Education from the Colorado Department of Higher Education

Partner with Colorado-based National Laboratories/Research Centers

Our state is second to none in concentrated talent, making Colorado a crucible for innovation and entrepreneurism. Partnerships among our research universities and national laboratories, the business community, and K-12 education breeds company success. Colorado has more than 30 federal labs and research institutions. Many of these labs have data sets to share, infographics, educational programming, and much more.

There are many ways to partner with federal labs and research institutions. A few may be to:

contract with one to offer professional development for administrator, teachers and staff
conduct collaborative research projects
create field experiences for your students
establish a mentoring program
work with them on building summer programs for your students and teachers

Major federal labs and research centers located in Colorado

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - the federal government's top agency for monitoring our climate, the space environment, and ocean resources (Boulder)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) - the nation's primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D (Golden)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology (Boulder)
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) - dedicated to exploring and studying our atmosphere and its interaction with the sun, oceans, biosphere, and society (Boulder)
National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR) - managed by UCAR, is a National Science Foundation R&D Center (Boulder)
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) - directs research in the atmospheric sciences into practical applications in weather and climate (Fort Collins)
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) - dedicated to research targeted at all aspects of Earth System Science and communicating its findings to the global scientific community (Boulder)

View all federal labs and research centers in Colorado

Partner with Colorado Informal Educators

Informal education institutions are innovation centers in our communities. Although this is not an exhaustive list, and some are in metro Denver, it provides ideas for other areas of the state.

Partnering

There are many ways to partner with informal educators. A few may be to:

contract with one to offer professional development for administrator, teachers and staff
conduct collaborative research projects
create field experiences for your students
establish a mentoring program
work with them on building summer programs for your students and teachers

Informal Educators

Partner with Colorado-based Industries

Our state is second to none in concentrated talent, making Colorado a crucible for innovation and entrepreneurism. The Colorado STEM Ecosystem provides information on what Colorado is doing to establish greater connections between industry and K-12 education.

There are many ways to partner with industry leaders. A few may be to:

create field experiences for your students
establish a mentoring program
work with them to build summer programs for your students and teachers
present at school assemblies or in classrooms

Partner with Colorado-based Foundations and Initiatives

There are many ways to partner with foundations and initiatives. A few may be to:

establishing a mentoring program
work with them on building summer programs for your students and teachers
apply for grant/scholarship monies to support innovative programs in your districts

Foundations

Partner with Federal Organizations

There are many ways to partner with federal organizations. A few may be to:

contract with one to offer professional development for administrator, teachers and staff
conduct collaborative research projects
create field experiences for your students
establish a mentoring program
work with them on building summer programs for your students and teachers
host a river watch program in your school/district
work with Project WILD/WET/Learning Tree

Organizations

United State Forest Service
Bureau of Land Management
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Air Force Academy Research Centers