STEM occupations are in high demand and continue to be
among the fastest growing within the 21st century work-
force across the US economy. PEF proudly funds STEM
programs for 6th-12th graders in the PVPUSD, exposing
students to drones, robotics, programming, computer
design and more.
STEM is important because it pervades every part of our
lives. To succeed in our information-based and highly
technological society, students need to develop their
capabilities in STEM.
At our intermediate schools, students can join highly-
regarded STEM programs and teams that compete at the
regional, state and national levels. VEX robotics competi-
tions, where students are tasked with designing and
building a robot to play against other teams in a game-
based engineering challenge, are very popular.
S T E M : S C I E N C E , T E C H N O L O G
Both Palos Verdes Peninsula High
and Palos Verdes High schools have
award-winning STEM programs.
SMERT (Science, Math, Engineering,
Robotics and Technology) at PVPHS
has more than 13 competition teams
including Cyber Patriots, Robotics,
Solar Engineering and more. Peninsu-
la's Stellar Xplorers team finished first
place in the U.S. at the AFA's Stellar
Xplorers National Space Design Com-
petition. Also, PVPHS' Phantom Catz
Team 2637 earned a spot in the FIRST
Robotics World Championships and
received a grant from NASA.
