FISTA partners launch scholarship program for STEM students

A foundation can reach a lot of students with $50,000 in scholarship money.

Two partners in the FISTA Innovation Park made that funding a reality Friday by donating funds to the FISTA Foundation for its scholarship program. Aeon and Firehawk Aerospace each contributed $25,000 to help the foundation launch its new program for students who are interested in STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

While FISTA is known primarily as a work setting for military defense contractors, the park and its tenants are deeply interested in STEM education, or the courses that focus on science, technology, engineering and math — the skills that defense contractors need in their employees. FISTA Innovation Park already has begun construction of its STEM Lab inside former Central Plaza retail space, while the City of Lawton said it also will locate its Discovery Zone-type STEM program for younger students at Central Plaza. The site is deliberate: with FISTA tenants separated from the lab space only by walls, engineers and others can be among those who participate in student education initiatives.

FISTA CEO/President Krista Ratliff said Aeon and Firehawk Aerospace are helping to lay the foundation for those initiatives, educational efforts that will not only expose youth to a multitude of science-based programs, but perhaps lead them to careers that will keep them in Lawton. Mayor Stan Booker pointed to the importance of that effort.

“We’re here to support our kids,” he said at a ceremony on Friday to celebrate the donation.

Booker said the initiative fits into what Lawton has been doing for more than 10 years, leading the way in STEM education that won the city the title of Oklahoma’s STEM City. He said while some school districts only have a few STEM classes, “we have STEM all over the place” because of the efforts of local educational entities. FISTA wants to build on that, Ratliff said.

“The importance of STEM education cannot be overstated,” she said.

Naweed Tahmas, founder and CEO of Aeon, agreed. Tahmas and Will Edwards, co-founder and CEO of Firehawk, discussed the importance of STEM education between themselves, then reached out to Ratliff with the offer of helping the foundation launch its scholarship program.

Tahmas cited the importance of STEM education in his own childhood. He said he grew up in Oceanside, California, a community similar to Lawton in many aspects, including its military component (Camp Pendleton is close enough to provide a steady background of weaponry noise, he noted). Tahmas said the difference in his childhood is that he had to find his STEM connection at the Boys and Girls Club.

Edwards said it was important for both CEOs to support Lawton’s STEM initiative. Edwards said he knows the initiative will be successful: he remembers being at Central Plaza four years ago when the retail space that now is FISTA 1 “was a shell.” He cited the difference today, adding the same people involved in that conversion will be involved in the STEM initiative.

“We believe it is vital to invest in the next generation of innovators,” Edwards said in a statement. “By partnering with Aeon and FISTA, we can help remove barriers for students in Lawton-Fort Sill and spark an enduring passion for science and technology. Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders in the STEM fields and will shape the future of our country.”

I’m grateful for the generous donors who supported my community youth programs growing up. It’s an honor to now pay it forward to the next generation,” said Tahmas in a statement. “This grant will be the first of many larger ones to come.”