By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

Today, President Obama announced a campaign called Educate to Innovate. The program will try to get kids interested in science, engineering, technology, and math.

Private companies, the federal government, foundations, and professional societies have invested $260 million into this effort, hoping their time and money might rebuild the spirit of innovation in America. Still, Obama is looking to recruit more people. Qualified individuals include: Big Bird, engineers, programmers, and scientists.

For example, Sesame Street will have episodes that touch on the scientific method. The Discovery Channel has set aside commercial-free programming on the Science Channel. Next year, Monday to Saturday, its programs will cater to after-school TV watchers. Time Warner Cable is setting up a website, called connectamillionminds.com, to track local science activities.

In his speech, Obama brought up an old, but disturbing statistic: In America, 15 year-old students rank 21st in science and 25th in math. He argues scientists and engineers need to be elevated as role models, the same way athletes and entertainers are. Obama wants to show kids how “cool science can be.” That’s why he’s going to have an annual science fair at the White House.

Critics argue that this campaign doesn’t do enough to improve science education, which is the underlying problem. Hopefully, the new science programs will be enough to do the trick.

It certainly wasn’t the hours of Full House and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air I watched growing up that got me interested in science. It was the little experiences that mattered. My dad exposed me to engineering. He took me though a tunnel underneath the ground, instead of walking me across the street. I took the path less traveled just to go to the pool!

Image: flickr/ The National Academy of Sciences