FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) - Mercury Marine of Fond du Lac says industries will have to grow their own engineers to avoid a massive talent shortage in the future.

So the company is helping start up a charter school this fall. About 100 3rd-through-5th graders will attend what’s called the “Fond du Lac STEM Academy.”

Kevin Anderson of Mercury Marine says the youngsters will learn a variety of science experiments in the company’s lab facilities, with the help of Mercury’s engineers.

The school will be based in a former elementary building. It has received a $200,000 federal grant, plus startup assistance from the Fond du Lac School District.

Anderson says the company wants to reach kids when their curiosity is at their highest about science and how things work.

Mercury says girls especially need this kind of schooling to join an engineering field that’s been dominated by men.

A Wisconsin group called “Project Lead the Way” says America is not nearly producing enough engineering talent that will be needed in the future. It says only 4 percent of 9th graders are on pace to get bachelor’s degrees in math, science, engineering, and technology – while thousands of Baby Boomers will leave those fields in the near future.