08/20/2026
The Rotary Club of Lenoir welcomed Dr. Carol Moore, President and CEO of STEM West, as guest speaker at the club’s meeting, August 7, 2026. Dr. Moore shared that STEM West had established nine partnerships across six school districts in western North Carolina. The goal of STEM West is to provide access to high quality STEM education for all students across rural western North Carolina including Caldwell, Burke, Catawba, and Alexander counties.
Dr. Moore shared how the partnership with Google had been very supportive of STEM education. Stem Trek, AI education, hands-on activities and conversations about different STEM skills are provided. AI Education Day and other events have served many students as AI affects people every day. Dr. Moore stated, “AI has been around a long time; it’s just being publicized a great deal more through education, government, health, customer service, finance, social media, and non-profits.” Responsible AI principals include being reliable, safe, fair, transparent, human centered, and secure. Dr. Moore further stated that use of AI should be relevant, personalized, and secure.
Programs established for STEM have promoted high quality education for students. Extreme STEM tours, First Filling the Gap, and Appalachian Entrepreneur Academy are proven examples. Dr. Moore concluded, “Why do I do it?” “It’s the right thing to do.”
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The Rotary Club of Lenoir meets on Fridays at 12:15 p.m. in the Christian Life Center, First United Methodist Church, Lenoir.
