Shelbyville, Indiana

continues. “It’s called the Excel Center (oper- ated by Goodwill Education Initiatives, Inc., a not-for-profit organization formed by Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana) because we have about 5,000 people, county-wide, who don’t have a high school diploma. So, they can go through the Excel Center, which is recog- nized by the State of Indiana, receive a high school diploma, and then they can apply for Advantage Shelby County and go on for post- secondary educational opportunities. “We also have an educational program for those students who aspire to be in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculums with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which has been the number one engineering university in the nation for 14 or 15 years. Through that program, we bring in students into our local industry; we pay their salary for the summer; they have real-life experience; and they bring current technol- ogy into our local industry. And then, the local industry, typically, hires these folks, every year. “We do a tele-mentoring program through Rose for our 8th grade students so that they can be introduced to STEM with students on campus. We also work very closely with our SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA