Former Seahawk Ricardo Lockette calls for science, math funding

Former Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette spoke at the annual STEM Summit Tuesday at Microsoft about the importance of the legislature funding STEM education.

Hundreds of educators, from K-12 and higher education, teamed up with business leaders and philanthropists to focus on STEM learning. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

Lockette talked to the crowd about how his injury could have easily had him in a wheelchair had it not been for STEM education.

"I have two metal plates in my neck, if that isn't engineering I don't know what is," Lockette told the room of educators and business leaders, "I'm here to tell you anything is possible."

Lockette also met with STEM students from  Chinook Middle School in the Highline School District.  Students were able to ask Lockette questions.

One student asked him how he would use STEM in relation to football. He told them he would find a way to engineer softer foam inside the helmet. He said it gets hard when sweat dries. He also said he'd see if there was a way to make the helmet exterior give a little bit more.

Governor Jay Inslee addressed the crowd at Microsoft in Redmond.

"The Washington STEM Summit is crucial in ensuring that our state's kids are prepared for great jobs available in our booming economy," Inslee said. "This is my fifth year of attendance and I enjoy working with other leaders to bring computer science education to even more kids in Washington. I am pleased to see great public private partnerships in programs that set kids on a path to be well prepared for STEM careers."

Susan Enfield, Superintendent of Highline Public Schools is on the Washington STEM board.

"Our greatest hope coming out of today's summit is that we really raise the awareness across all sectors and the legislature of the importance of STEM education and preparing our students for the STEM workforce," Enfield said. "We know there will be hundreds of thousands of jobs in these fields that are going to need to be filled in the coming years and we are committed to making sure our students here in Washington State are prepared and ready to fill those jobs."

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