Building the Future in Greater Lafayette and Beyond

Our Beginning

A fifth grader lights a circuit and realizes she can read the language of electricity. A quiet student uses code to move a robot, then shows a classmate how to do it. A teacher ends the day with energy left because the lesson simply worked. A plant supervisor meets students who understand teams, tolerances, and safety. Confidence grows. Pathways open. Communities benefit. This is what we’ve been bringing to classrooms, industries, and out-of-school organizations since 2017.

Our story didn’t start in a boardroom. It began at a kitchen table in Lafayette with a simple idea and a clear purpose. Sharon Powers believed that when you remove friction for educators and students, learning gets easier and lives get better. She turned that belief into School Datebooks and then into a family of solutions that serve schools and organizations across the country. Her entrepreneurial spirit guides the SDI Innovations family today, including STEM Education Works.

A large part of our story involves the community in which we were founded. We were shaped by a place that has a rich history in manufacturing, industry, engineering, and other STEM-related fields. In Greater Lafayette, classrooms sit near shop floors and research labs. Partners open their doors so students can see design, fabrication, and quality in action. Purdue University resides in our backyard and has been a leader in engineering and research since the 1860s. STEM is central to our local community, which has fueled our national reach.

Rising Concerns

In 2016, community partners sounded the alarm. While Greater Lafayette is a manufacturing stronghold with employers like Subaru of Indiana Automotive and Caterpillar, employers reported a persistent need for talent with real technical and teamwork skills. Greater Lafayette Commerce responded by expanding youth programs that expose students to high-skilled, high-demand careers, and by growing Manufacturing Week and Robotics in Manufacturing Camp, so more students could see modern production up close. That is the gap we choose to close with classroom-ready tools, teacher training, and career-connected learning.

What Our Community Data Shows

In 2019, more than 3,340 students registered for Manufacturing Week experiences and facility tours that highlighted advanced manufacturing and logistics careers. In 2018, more than 1,600 students were reached through K-12 programs that connect learning with local industry. In 2025, the program was projected to have nearly 2,000 students and 15 regional employers participating across the region. These signals, along with ongoing Career Plus work that aligns standards with high-demand skills, confirmed the need for earlier and more frequent hands-on STEM experiences.

How We Fit

STEM Education Works designs the education side of this pipeline. We provide standards-aligned curriculum, industry-relevant tools, and professional learning that lets educators, industries, and out-of-school clubs start small and grow. We also show up as a community partner. SDI Innovations, our parent company, invests time and resources as a named sponsor of Greater Lafayette Commerce’s Robotics in Manufacturing Camp. Our work is built to complement the region’s career awareness events with daily practice in schools.

What Guides Us

Keep it useful. Keep it human. Keep it built for real classrooms. We carry forward Sharon’s mission with tools that make teaching easier and learning hands-on. STEM Education Works is powered by SDI Innovations, headquartered in Indiana, and serving partners nationwide. We design programs that connect standards to real skills. We train teachers with practical steps they can use tomorrow. We give students technologies that help them think, build, and solve.

What Makes Us Stand Out

Proven Programs

Classroom-ready kits and curriculum for K-12. Clear outcomes that map to standards and essential skills.

Reliable Support

Friendly specialists, responsive service, and professional learning that respects a teacher’s time. Simple to begin. Strong enough to last. Meet our team.

Real World Alignment

Content and tools that mirror modern manufacturing and emerging technologies. Students connect what they learn to careers.

Worry-Free Experience

Easy ordering, practical implementation, and ongoing help. We remove friction so educators can focus on teaching.

How We Partner

We listen first and build with educators, not for them. We collaborate with community groups and industry so students can experience real careers up close. In Indiana and across the nation, this looks like STEM labs that hum with robotics, libraries hosting family STEM nights, and classrooms where laser cutters and 3D printers sit alongside notebooks and pencils.

Our Promise

We will keep the work simple to start and strong enough to last. We back every tool with training that fits. We will bridge school and industry so students can picture themselves as makers, technicians, engineers, and leaders. We will celebrate student wins, teacher ingenuity, and employer mentorship.

Where We’re Going

The future belongs to places that develop talent early and often. Greater Lafayette is one of those places, standing alongside communities nationwide. From Indiana to every region we serve, we keep turning curiosity into capability and projects into careers.

An Invitation

To educators, let us help you make STEM simple to begin and powerful over time. To families, visit a classroom and see what your students can do with the right tools. To industry partners, open your doors and your expertise. To community leaders, keep convening the conversations that move us from intention to impact.

We are building the future in Greater Lafayette and beyond. One student. One classroom. One project that becomes a career at a time.

We are Part of a Family of Brands

What began at a kitchen table grew into SDI Innovations, a family of forward-thinking brands led by Tim Powers. Today, SDI Innovations includes School Datebooks, STEM Education Works, Eventlink®, and Ag Printers. Each brand is committed to worry-free experiences for schools and businesses.