July 2019 Monthly News ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

IN THIS ISSUE STEM BEST Expands the Learning Continuum from School to Careers On a Mission: STEM Advisory Council Meets to Discuss Path Forward Celebrating Ten Years of STEM Teacher Externships G.E.M.S. Camp Earns STEM Council Seal of Approval

UPCOMING EVENTS August 18, 2019 - 9:00 a.m. STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair More information August 20, 2019 - 3:30 p.m. STEM BEST Webinar More information September 19, 2019 - 1:00 p.m. Northeast Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting More information

STEM BEST Expands the Learning Continuum from School to Careers

The close of the school year marked another STEM-tastic year of businesses engaging students and teachers. Thirteen new STEM BEST Programs were awarded to school districts across Iowa in 2018-2019. A total of 18 different school districts were recipients or created partnerships with neighboring districts to create their STEM BEST model. In this past year 164 new partnerships were created to bring the total of business-school partnerships to 1,354. Examples of these partnerships include: Allamakee Community School District partnering with Benjegerdes Machine, Mike Ferring Construction, KolGol, Northeast Iowa Community College and Trinity Fabricators; Keokuk Community School District partnering with Roquette America and Freeport McMoran; and Central Community School District partnering with Des Moines University and Kemin. Some of the models focused their efforts on facilitating work-based learning experiences for a specific age group while others provided for a cross-section of students. Five of the thirteen STEM BEST Programs integrated experiences into their model for elementary students, four for middle school/junior high and 10 for high school students. While this time is spent on program planning and facilitating partnerships, the STEM BEST partners still manage to facilitate true work-based learning experiences for their students. Of the most recent thirteen STEM BEST Programs, 1,843 students participated or were impacted by taking on a community project, business partner meetings and pitches or recruitment of peers.   Partnerships are key to the success of the STEM BEST Program. Creating and developing those school-business partnerships to expand learning happening beyond the classroom creates new opportunities for students and industry alike.  Many of these programs share how the program has impacted their communities in a powerful way. Bringing the business and school districts together creates opportunities for students to explore and build upon soft skills that are needed whether students are entering college or a workplace environment. Plans are in place to continue growing STEM BEST partners throughout Iowa. We are now accepting applications for the 2019-2020 school year. An informational webinar will be held on August 20 at 3:30 p.m. For more detailed information, visit  https://iowastem.gov/STEMBEST/application .

On a Mission: STEM Advisory Council Meets to Discuss Path Forward

Accumold President and CEO and STEM Council Co-Chair Roger Hargens and STEM Council Executive Director Jeff Weld opened the 20th meeting of the Governor's STEM Advisory Council held at Accumold in Ankeny.

A world leader in high precision micro molding, Accumold hosted leaders in higher education, business, PreK-12 educators, state and local government officials to discuss molding the future of the STEM Council as part of a recent convening of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. Accumold President and CEO and STEM Council Co-Chair Roger Hargens shared welcoming remarks with Council members. STEM Council Executive Director Jeff Weld charted the course of the day with a nod to the 50th anniversary of landing on the moon.  Brief updates were given on many of the STEM Council programs followed by questions and advice from Council members. Erin Heiden, Senior Research Scientist for the University of Northern Iowa Center for Social and Behavioral Research, shared about STEM indicators over time and Laura Williams, 21st Century Learning Specialist and Work-Based Learning Clearinghouse Coordinator, shared insights on the Work-Based Learning Clearinghouse. For the final portion of the day, Council members were divided into groups to discuss how to do more to advance the STEM Council mission, how to direct resources and how to best leverage partnerships. Common themes during this discussion included making the most of connections to school administrators, reaching under-represented communities and identifying more opportunities to partner with other organizations and agencies in the state to achieve mutual goals.  For more information about the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council meeting, visit  www.IowaSTEM.gov/archive .

Celebrating Ten Years of STEM Teacher Externships

Dr. Ryan Wise, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, was the keynote speaker at the 2019 STEM Teacher Externship Forum.

The 2019 STEM Teacher Externship Forum capped another record-breaking summer and the tenth year of STEM Teacher Externships. Nearly 100 teacher externs, extern mentors and workplace hosts attended the event held at the Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny Campus (DMACC).  Dr. Rob Denson, President of DMACC, and Dr. Jeff Weld, Executive Director of the STEM Council, opened the day with insights into the important role of STEM education in students’ future. The first breakout session featured a recap of summer experiences and sharing project-based learning applications. Teacher externs shared how working side-by-side with skilled and knowledgeable employees can help bring classroom curriculum to life. This conversation incorporated how workplace hosts might partner with the externs in the future and how there could be additional collaboration. Dr. Ryan Wise, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, was the keynote speaker and shared information about how the Iowa Clearinghouse for Work-Based Learning can connect schools with businesses for work-based learning projects for students.  The second breakout session focused on how to best utilize teacher externs and strengthen school-workplace partnerships. The forum concluded with an opportunity for teacher externs to discuss lesson development, implementation, assessment and cross-curricular connections of project-based learning to translate in their classrooms this fall.  Alex O’Connell, an algebra 1 and geometry teacher at Jesup High School, was an extern at John Deere. Based on his experience, he shared a classroom application of giving defective parts from a workplace to students to analyze and determine the best course of action to fix the problem. As part of this experience, students would need to understand linear relationships, linear systems and be able to compare data on a chart or table. For more classroom application or general information about the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program, visit  www.IowaSTEM.gov/externships .

G.E.M.S. Camp Earns STEM Council Seal of Approval G.E.M.S. (Girls Exploring Math & Science) Camp embodies the principle of STEM, including an interdisciplinary approach to learning about phenomena that happens all around us every day. That is why the G.E.M.S. Camp recently earned the STEM Council Seal of Approval. This two-day summer camp is held at Indian Hills Community College and provides the opportunity for girls finishing third, fourth or fifth grade to learn and explore STEM fields through a variety of hands-on activities. Two session of the G.E.M.S. Camp were held this year on July 18-19 and 25-26.    The STEM Council created the Seal of Approval to enculturate, sustain and spread STEM thinking. The STEM Council Seal of Approval recognizes and supports STEM programs and events that are unaffiliated with the STEM Council and help advance STEM principles.  The Seal of Approval can be leveraged for promotion, external funding and other types of support. Each application is considered based on how it aligns to STEM Council goals, how it meets the needs of the community and its benefits and offerings to meet those needs. For more information about the STEM Council Seal of Approval, past recipients and how to apply, visit  www.IowaSTEM.gov/Seal .

Contact the Iowa STEM Operations Center by phone at (319) 273-2959 or by email at info@IowaSTEM.gov.