As a longtime educator, Jami Seabolt knows it’s not always easy to get her students excited about math, science or reading. Giving them any reason to talk about space, on the other hand, is much easier.

A fifth grade teacher at Skyway Elementary School, Seabolt has implemented space-related education and resources into her classes to engage students and generate curiosity.

“Kids don’t really respond to worksheets,” she said. “If you don’t get them excited about reading and math somehow, you can lose them.”

She’s also a longtime member of the Space Foundation’s International Teacher Liaison Program, a community of nearly 400 educators across 40 states and 25 countries working to enhance K-12 education and inspire students to explore different career paths through a space lens.

During the 2024 Space Symposium, Seabolt and a group of educators met at Cross & Crown Church near the foundation’s headquarters to share and discuss different approaches to space-themed education to further engage students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Over the past year, the foundation partnered with the Space Workforce 2030 (SW2030) initiative whose goal is to inspire students at a young age and prepare them for employment in the space industry. The push for space education also comes as the industry scrambles to fill a shortage of qualified workers.

On Tuesday, SW2030 released its second annual Space Report, which is intended to track the progress of its goals while also expanding diversity in its workforce.

According to the report, the number of private sector space workers in the United States increased 4.8% in 2023 while total employment in the U.S. space sector grew to 222,300 positions from 201,000 in 2022.

Industry leaders believe that the workforce shortage isn’t due to a lack of inspired or qualified applicants, but rather a lack of awareness of the industry as a whole and the number of opportunities available.

Jennie Anderson, the foundation’s education program director, said the workforce shortage is largely due to the perception that space industry jobs only apply to those with the highest qualifications. In addition to aerodynamics and cybersecurity, jobs and careers available throughout the space industry include engineering, communications, marketing and machinist positions.

“Kids can often get intimidated or think that they’re not smart enough for a career in space, but a lot of them don’t realize all the options they have,” she said.

Part of the liaison program’s mission is to provide teachers with resources.

Lessons for fourth and fifth grade students teach them about science, math and art through planetary system and constellation activities. Kindergarteners participate in “Storytime from Space” with an astronaut via livestream.

In addition to its liaison program, SW2030 has also worked with businesses in the space industry to provide students with hands-on projects, demonstrations and presentations.

Anderson said these options familiarize students with various jobs and careers the space industry offers along with providing connections to the people within it.

“We use space as a hook,” she said.

Thirty-four companies have signed the foundation’s pledge since it was first announced in 2022 to meet these educational needs and increase diversity throughout the industry.

According to the annual report, women and people of color employed in technical staffing positions rose from 18.5 to 19.4% and 32.7 to 34.1% respectively.

SW2030 Executive Director Melanie Stricklan said the group has increased diversity through its National Space Interns program, which pairs diversity candidates with SW2030’s partner companies. Registrations have increased from 300 to 4,500 over the past year.

Following last year’s report, internships for women held relatively steady from 30.4 to 30.5% while people of color rose from 46.77 to 48%. Intern-to-employment conversions for women dropped from 34.7 to 30.2% while it rose for people of color from 42.7 to 46.4%.

“We have made serious progress, as you can see, across the four areas,” Stricklan said. “There are a couple of areas that did go down and that just allows us to really dive in and understand why. It drives our next focal point to drive those numbers up.”

Efforts to increase diversity and inclusivity also include reaching students from various economic backgrounds and different types of learners. This year’s report noted that K-12 STEM student outreach in 2023 reached 7.8 million students, exceeding its goal of 5 million students. Of those students, 58,000 came from Title 1 schools.

At the college level, local universities have worked to increase the number of degree programs and career pathways that can be applied to the field. In 2022, UCCS began offering a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering that gives students the option to pursue either a career focused on aeronautical engineering within or outside the atmosphere.

Going forward, SW2030 plans to expand its partnerships to include government affiliates, nonprofit organizations as well as recruitment efforts to historically Black colleges and universities and Indigenous communities.

Plans are also in the works to expand the National Space Interns program to a broader range of applicants along with intern-to-employment opportunities over the next year.

For younger students, SW2030 will hold a National Space Day on May 3, when it will broadcast a 45-minute video to fourth and fifth grade classrooms nationwide that will allow students to learn from and interact with the space industry and NASA. Thousands of classes have already signed up to participate.

SW2030 is still in its early stages, going into its second year. But Stricklan believes the growth in numbers and partnerships has been encouraging.

“This is a journey. This is not a destination,” she said on closing the workforce gap. “And we all have to come together to resolve this.”