DoD Scale Up Project

In September of 2021, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS) over six million dollars through its DoD-STEM program to replicate the JROTC STEM Leadership Academy model across the country to new school districts with active JROTC programs. MCPSS has partnered with STEMWorks2 (SW2) to lead the replication site selection process and provide support for Academy implementation; and with the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) to lead the research and reporting to DoD. The long-term goal of this project is to not only implement the Academy model in new sites, but also to help each district build capacity within the local community to sustain the Academy after the grant is concluded.

Replication Partners Wanted

We are currently seeking districts with active JROTC programs that are interested in learning about this hybrid STEM/JCLC camp, adapting their current JCLC to meet Academy requirements, and developing the local partners needed to sustain a summer STEM and workforce experience that builds on JROTC Junior Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC) experiences.

Choosing to adopt the JROTC STEM Leadership Academy model and participate in this grant funded project should be a collective decision made between the DAI, district and community leaders. To help you determine whether the Academy model is a good fit for your cadets and community, please read through the information provided in the Academy Scale Up Project Overview.  

Our scale out plan is to select 10 partner districts to implement the Academy model in their local regions beginning with 3 districts in summer 2023, 3 new districts in 2024, and 4 districts in 2025. Partner districts will be identified through a three-phase selection process. DAIs and districts interested in participating in the 2023 cohort should follow the dates listed below.

Academy Information Form

The first step to becoming a replication site partner for the DoD scale up project is to complete the Academy Information Form. The purpose of this form is to gather information from JROTC and districts about their capacity and interest in implementing and sustaining this Academy model in their local community. 

Following submission of this Form, Project Leaders will contact the DAI to schedule a one-hour virtual meeting to discuss responses on this form and answer questions about the Academy and scale out project. Meetings will be scheduled during the period of April 4-22, 2022. The DAI, district-level decision makers, and district level grants and finance officers are required to participate in this meeting.

Based on your responses to this Interest Form and the one-hour virtual meeting, six districts will be selected to move to Phase 2 of the application process. All applicants will be notified of decisions for the 2023 cohort by May 13, 2022.

Be aware that the Academy Information Form platform will not allow you to save your work and return later. All responses to questions must be entered at the same time. To help you prepare your responses, you may download the Information Form Questions.