September 2018
Monthly News
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IN THIS ISSUE
Get Involved in Fall STEM Festivals
Workplace Hosts Sign-up for 2019 Teacher Externship Program
STEM Council Takes Part in Regional Summits
MVP for Iowa STEM: Teri Vos and Vermeer
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October 10, 2018 - 4:00 p.m.
Johnson County STEM Festival
October 18, 2018 - 9:30 a.m.
Northwest Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
October 18, 2018 - 3:30 p.m.
South Central Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
October 18, 2018 - 4:00 p.m.
Northeast Iowa Family STEM Festival
October 20, 2018 - 1:00 p.m.
NIACC STEM Festival
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Get involved in Fall STEM Festivals
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As the temperatures begin to get cooler, warm up the mind with hands-on STEM activities for the entire family. Fall STEM Festivals are held in multiple communities throughout each of the six STEM regions. While each festival is unique, they all include educational and entertaining activities designed to increase interest in STEM.
Interest and participation in STEM Festivals continues to grow. In 2017-2018, there was a total of 51 STEM Festivals statewide, engaging approximately 17,000 Iowans. STEM Festival attendees are able to explore various exhibits, which have previously included robotics, virtual reality simulations, chemical reaction testing, structure creation and more!
STEM Festivals are facilitated by the STEM Council’s six regional STEM managers and are made possible with the help of a committed network of exhibitors and volunteers.
Exhibitors have the opportunity to sign-up for and participate at festivals throughout the state. This allows businesses and organizations to engage up to hundreds of local youth and adults with activities that relate to their area of expertise.
For more information about attending, exhibiting or volunteering at a festival in your region, check out the
STEM calendar
or visit the website for your
STEM region
.
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Workplace Hosts Sign-up for 2019 STEM Teacher Externship Program
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Tristan Sikkema, a high school technology teacher at Easton Valley Community School District, participated in the 2018 Iowa Teacher Externship Program at Rockwell Collins in Bellevue.
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Part of the mission of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council is to provide work-based learning opportunities. The
Iowa STEM Teacher Externship Program
is a unique opportunity for workplaces to build mutually beneficial partnerships with some of Iowa’s talented STEM educators and impact the future workforce.
The STEM Teacher Externship Program matches workplace hosts with local STEM educators who assist with hands-on projects for six weeks during the summer. Externship matches are carefully made based on an educator’s interests and skills and the needs of the workplace host.
The educator is able to bring his or her summer externship experience along with real-world applications back to the classroom, while also providing students with career information about workplaces in their community.
The STEM Teacher Externship Program continues to grow with more than 150 workplace partners participating in the program since 2009.
A 2018 Extern Workplace Host shared the following, “The externship was an excellent educational experience for both the teacher and the research group and has catalyzed a new project that may have substantial impact.”
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STEM Council Takes Part in Regional Summits
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The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council is pleased to support the Future Ready Iowa Regional Summits taking place across Iowa this fall to help further the goal of preparing Iowa’s future workforce. At several Regional Summits, members of the STEM Network Team will share how the STEM Council work-based learning programs align with the Future Ready Iowa goal of 70 percent of Iowa’s workforce having education and training beyond high school by 2025.
- STEM BEST brings together educators and industry professionals to craft STEM curriculum and projects, where students are able to solve real-world problems. Through these models, students are introduced to career opportunities available in Iowa.
- Iowa STEM Teacher Externships builds bridges between Iowa workplaces and Iowa STEM educators to create lasting partnerships. For six weeks in the summer, educated and skilled mathematics, science and technology teachers are matched to a workplace based on their needs. Educators are able to share and apply their experience in the classroom.
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MVP for Iowa STEM: Teri Vos and Vermeer Corporation
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Teri Vos serves on the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and has been an ongoing contributor to the advancement of STEM in Iowa in partnership with her company, Vermeer Corporation.
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The STEM Council focuses on helping grow the next generation of innovators and makers. Those attributes are at the heart of this month’s MVP for Iowa STEM, Teri Vos, Community Relations Manager for Vermeer Corporation. Vos has actively served on the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council since 2015. In this time, she has participated in several STEM events, speaking engagements and panels focused on STEM in Iowa.
A
High School Registered Apprenticeship Playbook
was launched earlier this year at the Governor’s press conference held at the Career Academy of Pella. The playbook was based on the process of implementing a high school Registered Apprenticeship program, similar to the local welding Registered Apprenticeship program offered through the Career Academy of Pella. Vos was integral in developing the program and compiling the Playbook along with the Career Academy of Pella, the U.S. Department of Labor, Des Moines Area Community College, the STEM Council and others.
Vos is also involved in a variety of STEM-related working groups and programs. She is on the core committee for the Women in Manufacturing group through Vermeer Corporation, which engages local students and schools through events and STEM festivals.
“The STEM Council does a wonderful job of helping make connections that carry the STEM message forward,” Vos said. “At Vermeer, we are receiving more requests for job shadows and internships than ever before. We have more interest coming in, due in part to the groundwork of the STEM Council.”
Vermeer Corporation has been a teacher intern host, a contributing STEM corporate partner, a past STEM Day at the Fair exhibiting partner and hosts independent STEM opportunities at their facilities. On site at Vermeer, they host an annual Manufacturing Day event for youth to participate in hands-on STEM activities and learn about manufacturing careers there.
The STEM Council would like to thank Teri and Vermeer, along with all members of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, for their many contributions which impact thousands of Iowans each year.
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Contact the Iowa STEM Operations Center by phone at (319) 273-2959
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