Under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, the U.S. Army RDECOM Acquisition Center, Natick Contracting Division, Natick, MA intends to award a Firm fixed Price Purchase Order to Metro South West Regional Employment Board Inc(MSWREB) of Marlboro MA. MSWREB through its Leadership Initiatives for Teaching and Technology (LIFT) program has developed a six year old nationally recognized Teacher Professional Development program which includes a 5-8 week paid summer externship. This program is designed to help middle and high school math, science and technology teachers better prepare and motivate more students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers. MSWREB will recruit teacher candidates for up to four (4) externship opportunities at the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center this summer. Additionally, the MSWREB will provide all personnel administration and payroll/tax services for the teachers selected for the externship opportunities. Also, each teacher extern will be covered by a Workers Compensation insurance policy purchased b the MSWREB. The LIFT program provides three graduate level courses to all teacher externs to help them fully integrate their externship experience back into the class room. (MSWREB) is in a unique position to facilitate efforts to employ teachers on externships. There are no other organizations that recruit and manage teacher externships that specifically support Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) outreach for K-12 teachers. MSWREB has specialized knowledge and experience related to Massachusetts efforts to promote STEM education and experience managing teacher externships to ensure that real world experiences are shared in the classroom. Market research has been done,no other organizations recruit and manage teacher externships that specifically support efforts to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) outreach for K-12 teachers. The U. S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center will provide each teacher selected for and externship with the following: An opportunity to work on a real world project where science, technology, engineering and math skills are used regularly for a minimum of 5 weeks and a maximum of 8 weeks An opportunity to take part in staff meetings as appropriate An opportunity to talk with personnel connected to their assignment to understand more about their careers An opportunity to make a presentation where the teacher can relate the value of the externship and her/his plan to bring their experience back to the classroom Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement in the future. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement to the U.S. Army RDECOM Acquisition Center, Natick Contracting Division, via e-mail at
[email protected]. No later than 6 July 2009, 12:00 pm EDT.