Upcoming Events
July 9
Professional Development begins for Scale-Up awardees
July 30
Waterloo
August 9-14
August 22
Have an event coming up?
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Northeast Region
of the Iowa
Governor's STEM Advisory Council
Advisory Board
Sue Burrack
Upper Iowa University
Lisa Chizek
Iowa State
University
Kendra Crooks
Chickasaw County Extension and Outreach
Kelly Cooper
Dubuque Area Labor-Management Council
Larry Escalada
University of
Northern Iowa
Heather Fransen
RSM, LLP
Gena Gesing
Northeast Iowa Community College
Seth Harms
West Delaware
High School
Doreen Hayek
University of
Northern Iowa
Ellen Heuer
Martin Brothers Distributing
Jason Martin-Hiner
Keystone Area Education Agency
Kim Miller
TDS Automation
Allison Plunkett
John Deere
Miriam Ohrt
John Deere
Anderson Sainci
City of Dubuque
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Northeast Iowa Schools Awarded
STEM BEST® Program
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The Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council has awarded 22 Iowa School Districts a STEM BEST grant for the 2021-22 academic year.
New STEM BEST programs will bring together schools and businesses to create outstanding STEM learning experiences that prepare students for exciting, in-demand careers.
Below are the schools in the Northeast Iowa STEM Region awarded STEM BEST.
- Central Elementary School
- Don Bosco High School
- Eastern Allamakee High School
- Howard-Winneshiek High School
- MFL MarMac High School
- North Tama County Elementary School
- Wapsie Valley High School
Each recipient will receive up to $25,000 grant to support school-business partnerships.
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Iowa STEM Council Releasing New Podcast Episodes |
The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council is launching the fourth season of its podcast, STEM Essential. Sponsored by Alliant Energy, “Iowa’s STEM Decade…and beyond,” will explore the programs built over the last ten years, the impact they made toward the goals of the STEM Council and visioning for the future.
STEM Essential features leading advocates and voices to discuss the power of STEM education for our students now, and what strong STEM education will mean for the future workforce. Jeff Weld, Executive Director of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, interviews guests about what inspired their path with STEM, how they view the current outlook for STEM and what they expect to see in the years ahead.
The first episode features Cindy Dietz, Associate Director of State Government Relations at Raytheon Technologies. Dietz helped create the Iowa STEM Education Roadmap, a precursor to the STEM Council. She also served as the Interim Executive Director of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council in 2018 as Weld served at the White House advising on STEM education policy.
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“STEM and STEM education is for everyone,” said Dietz during her episode on what STEM message she’d like to impart. “For students, it gives them the foundation to make the choices that they want. They can go anywhere…And for our adults, it makes you better thinkers, it makes you better citizens.”
Other upcoming guests include Iowa Lakes Community College president, Valerie Newhouse, who has served on the Council since it was created in 2011. Erin Heiden, assistant director at the Center for Social and Behavioral Health, will also appear to speak on STEM statistics. Episodes will be released weekly from June 28 to July 26, 2021.
The STEM Essential podcast, including the first three seasons, can be found at https://www.iowastem.org/podcast. Episodes are also available on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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Teachers Gain Valuable Summer Workplace Experience |
Following a year of shutdowns and remote work scenarios, the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program has rebounded with 70 teacher externs partnering with local workplaces across Iowa to gain authentic work experiences that will translate into classroom instruction and career preparation.
Teachers will gain applicable professional development experience during their six-week summer externship by working alongside skilled industry professionals. At the end of the experience, teachers indicate the STEM Teacher Externships Program changes their approach to teaching based on their experiences and the skills they observed.
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Jennifer Buckwalter, a business and technology teacher at Maquoketa High School, is assisting with communicating company goals and deadlines to interns at Innovate 120 in Maquoketa. She provides guidance, motivates team members and assesses performance. She keeps management updated on the teams’ performance. Jennifer is learning a lot about UX Design and so much more. |
These partnerships are mutually valuable for workplaces as they have the opportunity to work with some of Iowa’s many talented STEM educators. Workplace hosts gain further awareness of their business in the community, as well as relevance and strengthened partnerships with local schools.
Since the program launched in 2009, nearly 700 STEM teacher externs have worked at more than 200 workplaces across Iowa, covering a variety of industries.
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STEM DAY at the State Fair |
Sunday, August 22, is STEM Day at the Fair. For the price of half-off admission, fair goers will get the bonus of a statewide STEM festival taking place in the main concourse. This has become a popular family tradition on the last day of the Iowa State Fair.
We hope to see you there!
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