ROCK SPRINGS — Students in Sweetwater County School District No. 1 are playing a role in the U.S. Department of Education’s ongoing effort to solve a national problem — the critical shortage of students with mastery of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills. Through an exciting out-of-school collaboration between the Department and NASA, local students are conducting scientific observations of the natural environment and (are) learning the relevance of STEM skills to daily life. Rock Springs Junior High is part of the Department’s Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) Grant Program, which focuses in part on exposing students in high-need schools to meaningful STEM learning opportunities.