Please enjoy this week's STEM Ed update.
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| Coalition Updates: |
 Festo Joins Leadership Council
We are pleased to announce that Festo Didactic has joined the STEM Education Leadership Council. Festo is one of the largest global companies in the world of advanced manufacturing and particularly in manufacturing automation. Festo Didactic is the company's education division and produces equipment, curricula, and training for educators in career and technical education settings. Their service portfolio offers customers holistic education solutions for all areas of technology in factory and process automation, such as pneumatics, hydraulics, electrical engineering, production technology, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, CNC, HVAC and telecommunications.
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Coalition Releases 2016 Annual Report
On Tuesday, the STEM Education Coalition published its 2016 Annual Report. 2016 was a time of great transition and the Coalition was right in the middle of it, playing an active role in the implementation of the nation's new K-12 education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, which when fully in effect will provide every school district with new resources to support STEM learning. The report highlights the Coalitions activities, accomplishments, and major media coverage of its work over the past year.
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| Top Article: |
 What Does the President's "Skinny Budget" Mean for Afterschool and Summer Learning?
Afterschool Alliance
Last week, President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney released the administration's fiscal year 2018 budget blueprint. This "skinny budget" outlines the president's vision for how Congress should spend federal discretionary funds for the upcoming fiscal year that begins October 1, 2017 (FY18). The budget proposal seeks to eliminate 19 agencies and 60 programs, including the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative, which funds local afterschool programs in all 50 states. That proposal would devastate the 1.6 million children and families that stand to lose access to quality afterschool and summer learning programs.
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Stay in the Know:
Latest STEM Education Policy News Across the U.S.
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Senate Appropriators Spotlight STEM Education Funding
American Institute of Physics
On March 15, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee held a
hearing
highlighting the importance of federal investment in STEM education programs. In his opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO)
kicked off
the meeting, emphasizing that "STEM ... is critical for the economic competitiveness and security of our nation ... [STEM education] provides the basic skills and competencies all students need, and prepares them for well-paying careers across education levels."
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State Board Association Creates ESSA Tracker
Education Week
As the first deadline for state accountability plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act approaches on April 3, many state boards of education are meeting this month to vote on crucial policies that will dictate, among other things, school accountability systems and how federal dollars are distributed in the coming years. C
urious how state school boards are handling new policies under the Every Student Succeeds Act?
The National Association of State Boards of Education this week
launched a website
that tracks all 50 states' boards of education meeting minutes regarding ESSA plans.
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| Around the Community: |
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PicoCTF Computer Security Competition
PicoCTF is a computer security competition open to students grades 6-12. The competition is a series of challenges where students must reverse engineer, break, decrypt, or do whatever it takes to solve the problem. The competition is from March 31st to April 14th. Everything is exclusively on the internet and completely free. Anyone can play, but only eligible individuals between 6th and 12th grade will be able to win and receive prizes.
Click here to register.
Scholarship Opportunity: #NewFaceofTech
The 1000 Dreams Fund is offering an exciting funding opportunity for young women pursuing careers in tech. The #NewFaceofTech online challenge will provide two finalists with $3,000 for their STEM education. To enter, students must simply upload a photo highlighting their dream career in tech. Photo deadline is April 4th.
Scholarship Opportunity: ASHRAE Engineering Technology
Four one-year $5,000 scholarships are available to full-time undergraduate Engineering Technology students pursuing either a bachelor or an associate degree in a course of study that has traditionally been a preparatory curriculum for the HVAC&R profession.
Applicants must be a student member of ASHRAE
, have a cumulative college Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least 3.0 on a scale where 4.0 is the highest and/or a class standing of no less than the top 30%. Applications are due May 1st.
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| Join the Coalition! We at the STEM Education Coalition hope you have enjoyed this week's edition of the STEM Ed Newsletter. Any organization may join the Coalition, and there is no cost to become an Affiliate Member. Affiliate members are listed on our website, receive periodic communications on policy matters, and will be signed up for the weekly newsletter. Your organization can also apply to join the Coalition's Leadership Council, where they play an active role in setting the public policy agenda for the Coalition and are invited to participate in frequent interactions with policymakers. If you would like to join the Coalition at any level, please read our message to prospective members or email us at [email protected].
We appreciate your continued support and involvement.
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| Our Coalition's Co-Chairs -------------------------------------------------------------
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(12:30 PM)
Center for American Progress
(8:30 AM)
American Enterprise Institute
(10:00 AM)
House Appropriations Committee
(8:00 AM)
The Atlantic
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