Enjoy our Q2 Newsletter from STEM Sports® 🏀🏈⚽⚾

STEM Sports® provides turnkey K-8 supplemental curriculum that uses sports as the real-life application to drive STEM-based, hands-on learning in classrooms, after-school programs and camps.

From approximately April of 2019 until May of this year, our curriculum staff was busily recomposing every single lesson of our existing elementary and middle school curricula . Often, when describing this large-scale project to others, we would reference a house going through a remodel. The home had a good foundation and a solid structure. Yet, it needed updating. Some rooms needed to be repainted and refurnished. Additional space was desired and thus added.

We’re proud to announce that our “house” has been completely refurbished and is ready for everyone to enjoy. Volume 1 of our curricula is no longer; Volume 2 has made its debut and we’re both proud and excited to share it around the country and in new markets overseas. In fact, if you have Volume 1 curricula at your school or program, please contact us as we'll upgrade you to Volume 2 at no charge ! We want you to have the best tools possible to teach students.

Yet, we’re also aware of what is happening around the world. To say the pandemic has been disruptive is a gross understatement. Students lost valuable learning experiences and time. Paired with the summer slump , it has created tremendous challenges to our education system. Teachers and administrators were and are tasked with trials and tribulations never seen nor felt before. The forthcoming school year provides so many questions and uncertainties. There is no “one size fits all” solution to best handle what is to come.

Aside from rebuilding our “home”, we’ve also positioned our offerings to be as flexible and scalable as possible. This equates to it being extremely useful virtually and from home. Our 5E approach to instruction in all of our modules is designed to maximize each student’s involvement in their learning, whether they are in the classroom, at home, or in the virtual or digital space . The 5E steps of Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate and STEM Sports’ sixth “E”, Extend , all support inquiry-based and active learning, allowing students to make their own discoveries and to process and absorb STEM skills … without the needs of a lecture. This makes it beneficial to homeroom, science, STEM, and PE teachers as training or professional development is not a prerequisite to implementing our curriculum.

Finally, when we think of our “home”, we think of it as a space where all are welcome. Where everyone, student and teachers, will thrive and collaborate. We are a STEM education company yet our core is based on inclusivity: everyone matters and all are essential to the process of learning, unequivocally.

Learn more about STEM Sports by watching the video below.

STEM Sports® provides K-8 supplemental curriculum that uses sports as the real-life application.

At last count, our curricula is in 48 states and overseas and that has created an overwhelming desire for more. Not only did we revamp our existing curricula, but we’ve also created a brand new offering. Based on demand, we are pleased to now offer a STEM Multi-Sport supplemental curriculum, specifically designed for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade . Our STEM Multi-Sport K-2 is a fun, new, and novel way to introduce motor skills, spatial awareness, and movement patterns to students in K-2. When applicable, we have aligned the lessons to NGSS, CCSS, and the National Standards for K-12 Physical Education making this curriculum great to use in the classroom. The modules breakdown the science aspects of basketball, football, golf, and soccer and provide varying levels of physical activity for the youth involved. They will think they are playing while learning about:

The behavior of a soccer ball by determining which soccer drills increase and decrease the speed of the ball.
Basketball shoes and use of the Engineering Design Process (EDP) to design their very own shoes.
Playing catch and finding the ideal distance between players using the Scientific Method.
How the force of their golf swing relates to accuracy and precision using PGA-licensed ShortGolf® clubs.

Hands-on learning through play is a big part of how all STEM Sports® curricula activities and lessons are applied, and none more than with the STEM Multi-Sport K-2 kits, designed specifically for kindergartners, first and second-grade students.

We can't wait for sports to return to the courts, ice and playing fields. As mentioned in our last newsletter, we believe the return of sports is the barometer in which we'll know that we've bested the pandemic.

STEM Sports® has created opportunities whereby professional sports teams and collegiate athletic programs can collaborate with us to make a difference in K-8 schools and after-school programs by providing STEM Sports® curriculum. With these partnerships, franchises and programs can realize:

Authentic youth marketing engagements
Fruitful community relations and socially responsible initiatives
New revenue opportunities for existing or new corporate partners

Imagine the difference a team can make in a young student's life. A collaboration ensures students learn leadership, collaboration, problem solving skills and critical thinking. They'll also learn about STEM-based jobs that exist in sports at the franchise and collegiate level along with so many other connected industries. Contact us to learn more about how you can activate the next General Manager, Team Orthopedic Surgeon, Stadium Engineer and so many more occupation opportunities with young students!

We are pleased to offer STEM Sports® FUN-da-Mentals for grades 3rd to 5th and 6th to 8th. Students will have the opportunity to engage and explore the world of STEM and Sports by participating in a series of At-Home lessons by themselves or with mom and dad, family, and friends.

To get started, click the link below and enjoy!

DOWNLOAD FREE LESSON

The Josh Gibson Foundation, named in honor of Negro League baseball player and second Negro League player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Josh Gibson , offers free academic, mentoring, tutoring, nutrition, and athletic programs to at-risk youth. They focus on forming the children as both athletes and people to, “allow the next Josh Gibson to reach his or her potential.” We are proud to work with the Josh Gibson Foundation as they recently adopted STEM Sports® curricula into their academic programming.

In honor of the Negro Leagues 100th Anniversary, Tipping Your Cap was created to honor men and women who played in Negro Leagues. “The Negro Leagues were both a tragedy and a triumph. The Leagues only came to be because of an unwritten law in Major League Baseball preventing a team from signing a black player. The tragedy is easy to see...For 40 years, from 1920 to 1960, black players - African Americans, dark-skinned Latinos, men and women - played joyous and brilliant baseball in the Negro Leagues, ” said Tipping Your Cap.

The “tipping your cap” movement is being used to acknowledge and honor the men and women who played in the Negro League despite inequalities and, in turn, changed the game of baseball in the United States.

To learn how you can tip your cap, click here .

Sean Barton is the STEM Sports® Director of Curriculum and Strategy. He has been a salient part of creating our new curricula offerings as well as updating our existing curriculum.

To get to know Sean better, we conducted a short Q & A:

What has been your silver-lining of quarantine?

While it has been difficult to remain optimistic during this difficult and uncertain time, an eagerness to learn and/or education is a lifelong process and will always persist. Because of this, I have felt fortunate to remain employed by an organization that provides a product and service to support educators and students during this challenging yet opportunistic time.

What is something you have watched on ESPN since sports have been postponed?

I don't watch ESPN that often, but did happen to catch a segment of ESPN commercials/promos from many years ago, as well as replays of past NBA Finals series. All in all, it was nice to reminisce:).

What are you most excited about currently with the STEM Sports® curricula/offerings?

There are so many good things on the horizon, from the recent launch of Volume 2 (Basketball, Football, Soccer, Volleyball), to K-2 to Golf (Editor's Note: STEM Golf is coming very soon) and much more to come... But if I had to pinpoint one curriculum both unique and beneficial for educators and students, I'm most excited about the launch of K-2. Based on my experience in education at the lower-primary level and coaching this grade-band, I strongly feel this curriculum sets the groundwork to effectively prepare young minds through the use of STEM principles and concepts, development of fine motor skills, and socialization.

Thank you to Sean and all of the teachers and school administrators for all that you do for the good of students!

We are extremely proud to be able to offer several free lessons as well as other resources for your use during the pandemic. Multiple parents have responded with the ease of implementation, the joy their children had while learning and the opportunity to do something a bit different. For this, we are very proud and pleased.

As attention begins to swing towards the 2020-2021 school year, we are prepared to help K-8 classrooms and after-school programs around the world learn the science behind the sports they love. To do so, we provide:

Full kits - sports and science items supplied in a turn-key package along with the teacher's manual.
Kits with just the science supplies along with the teacher's manual.
Teacher's manuals as a standalone product.
All forms of payments accepted: Credit cards, checks and Purchase Orders (PO).
Digital quote and estimate requests.

We are stocked and ready to deliver now (typically, domestic shipping arrives in five business days; delays may occur due to the current situation) or we can hold inventory until your school or district warehouse reopens.

Thank you!