As millions of students head back to school this season, so too will their teachers. And thanks to a strong partnership between 3M and Teach For America, some of those educators will be more than ready.

Through a program called 3M Fellows, 44 Teach For America early-career STEM educators last year received grants to attend a professional development program of their choosing. As part of the fellowship, science teachers expanded their understanding of STEM curriculum, improved their teaching skills and brought advanced STEM courses and content to classrooms across the country.

3M and Teach For America are continuing the partnership, which will also involve the recruitment of diverse STEM educators along with professional development opportunities. This year, another 25 teachers will be awarded $1,500 in professional development funding. As an organization, Teach For America remains one of the single largest and most diverse sources of STEM educators in the country.

“Part of our work is to ensure students have the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century, and that includes exposure to a robust STEM curriculum and to STEM educators who reflect their identities,” said Josh Anderson, Chief External Affairs Officer at Teach For America. “3M’s support will help us continue to recruit a diverse cohort of STEM educators who can both serve as role models for their students and ensure that they are getting the excellent and equitable education they deserve.”

This school year marks the 29^th year in which Teach For America has recruited talented, diverse educators to classrooms in lower income communities across the country. Nearly half of this year’s 6,700 new corps members identify as people of color.

3M also teamed up with Teach For America to highlight the partnership and celebrate 80 incoming educators during the back-to-school season. 3M donated Post-it® Notes to create a mural at the Raul Yzaguirre Middle School in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. The mural featured the schools’ motto “VAMOS” – “Let’s go” – as students wrote inspirational messages to their teachers on the individual Post-it Notes.