Education Stories

Science City merger to bolster local STEM education

Officials leading the merger of two non-profit science organizations hope their combined efforts will translate to more STEM professionals in Kansas City. A science museum, Union Station’s Science City is merging with Kansas City-based Science Pioneers to offer complementary science events, activities and programs. The merger — which will be complete July 1 — aims…

KC Social Innovation Center kicks off with $100K

Education in Kansas City is receiving an innovative boost. Village Capital, a global entrepreneurial development organization, recently announced that Kansas City will be one of its pioneer “VilCap communities.” The KC Social Innovation Center, or KCSIC, will manage Kansas City’s VilCap community. The organization — launched by Think Big Partners in May — focuses on education…

It’s back: TEDxKC returns to ‘question everything’

Ticket sales for the popular lecture series “TEDxKC” kick off next Tuesday. With a theme to “question everything,” the eighth-annual TEDxKC will welcome innovators, artists, activists and researchers from around the world to share their big ideas. TEDxKC is a wildly popular event in Kansas City, garnering sellout crowds not only at its host location,…

The Lean Lab

New batch of techies, educators to revamp learning with Lean Lab

After recently announcing it would award $100,000 for education startups, the Lean Lab on Thursday unveiled the five entrepreneur teams that represent its third cohort. The non-profit for the first time opened its fellowship program to accept international teams, reaping it more than 50 applications — some from as far as Iran and Bulgaria, said…

Katie Boody Carrie Markel Lean Lab

Dying schools taught Katie Boody how to build

Editor’s note: Katie Boody is a co-founder of The Lean Lab, a Kansas City-based education incubator that helps educators create and implement innovative ideas in schools to help students. The Lean Lab co-founder Carrie Markel contributed to this piece. Opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Both the schools I taught at are…