View the Spanish translation of our newsletter here.

Hello, Mid-Valley-

Happy graduation season! A quick word of congratulations to all the recent graduates: we wish you well in whatever lies ahead! And to all the families, educators, and supporters who cheered you along, we celebrate you for the critical roles you play in supporting the success of students of all ages here in the region. Hats off to you all!

As we wrap up the academic year and look forward to sunny days ahead, I’d like to thank you for a fantastic year together. We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with you to advance this mission of equitable STEAM and CTE education for all students in our region.

While school may be out for some, learning never takes a vacation! We have many more tools, programs, and resources to share with you, so please enjoy this month’s newsletter. I hope you find something of interest and relevance to you, your family, students, and work. Thanks for all you do out there!

Thanks and be well,

Sarah Whiteside, Director

Mid-Valley STEM-CTE Hub

STEAM for the Win Aims High

“I want to show the students in the STEAM FTW program that STEM can be fun,” said Chris Singer, a program coordinator for the Mid-Valley STEM-CTE Hub and developer of the STEAM FTW program.  

STEAM FTW (For the Win), is a program that focuses on helping special education and life skills students develop employability skills through hands-on learning experiences. The program started by exploring STEAM concepts with play-based activities including marble runs and domino chains, then began the students on an educational journey to build and operate drones. Recognizing the students' enthusiasm and progress, Singer introduced the idea of attempting a world record using materials familiar to the students.

Singer got the idea for this project when he heard of a family in Grants Pass who had recently attempted the same record.  A light bulb went off in his head; he knew it’d be the perfect way to end the school year. 

“The official record right now is 28 loops and today we are going to attempt 36 loops,” said Singer. “We have about 80 students today that are able to help with the attempt but easily have over 100 students in the program.”