RALEIGH - A North Carolina program wants to draw kids to STEM education - that's science, technology, engineering and math - as early as the second grade.

Moni Singh is the founder of STEM for Kids, and she says they're working with schools to spark an early interest in the careers of the future.“We are working with elementary, middle schoolers mostly.... The focus is to get them excited [and] energized about STEM fields while they’re still forming an opinion about what these things are.” She says a Microsoft study shows that the average age when children develop an interest in STEM fields is 8.

Singh says STEM education can benefit every child, since skills like reasoning, critical thinking, and problem solving also apply to other subjects.