Excited students bubble into the basement cafeteria of a Brooklyn, New York, high school, both sexes favoring thick-framed geek-chic glasses--fitting for a school in which geek is very chic. The kids have gathered this Friday morning for a competition: They must design drinking-straw "rockets" that can traverse a fishing line using only balloons for propulsion. But the jerry-rigged shuttles aren't the only models being evaluated. The school itself is an experiment, one intended to prepare average urban students for entry-level tech jobs. If the rockets work out, the winning team will get iTunes gift cards. If the school succeeds, it could help fill 14 million science, tech, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs over the next decade.
More of this. Thanks.