SE Iowa STEM Hub Newsletter

The Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council is a bipartisan collaboration of legislators, educators, businesses, students and families to increase STEM awareness and opportunities in Iowa. To learn more about STEM programming going on in southeast Iowa, visit us at http://se.iowastem.org.

Thank You to AT&T for Investment in STEM

Dustin Blythe, Director of External Affairs, and local AT&T store managers visited the SE Region STEM Hub at the University of Iowa/Kirkwood Community College Regional Center on March 4th to present a $5000 contribution to The Governor's STEM Council for continued support of STEM outreach and scale up programming.

Receiving the check is Jeff Weld, State Director for the Governor's STEM Council and Kristine Bullock, SE STEM Hub Manager. Thank you to AT&T for your investment in Iowa students and STEM!

Governor's Future Ready Iowa Summit Coming Soon

Mark your calendars for the Governor's 2016 Future Ready Iowa Summit! This event will be held on Tuesday, April 19 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines and will involve hearing from state, national, and global experts on how to best align education and the workforce in order to close Iowa's skills gap.

Speakers for the event include Andreas Schleicher, the director for education and skills at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Mary Adringa, chair of the board for Vermeer Corporation, and Jamie Merisotis, president of the Lumina Foundation. High school, college, and welding program students will also speak at the event.

For more information about the Governor's 2016 Future Ready Iowa Summit, click here.

Save the Date: April 1 STEM Tour at Bettendorf High School

Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds will be visiting Bettendorf High School on Friday, April 1 from 8:30 to 9:30 am as a part of her STEM tour of schools across the state. As the co-chair of the Governor's STEM Advisory Council, Reynolds wants to discuss the importance of providing Iowa students with a world-class STEM education.

"I'm excited to crisscross the state and see the groundbreaking innovative things happening in the name of STEM," said Reynolds. "Across Iowa, educators, private businesses, after school programs and non-profits have all embraced the power and energy of STEM. STEM is a driver of innovation and entrepreneurialism and is critical to Iowa remaining a competitive state in the future."

Announcing New Summer Opportunities!

Great summer opportunities for educators this year include Teacher Externships and the Quarknet Summer Institute. Externships allow educators to work side-by-side with industry employees to help bring their classroom curriculum to life during full-time, six-week temporary summer positions. The Quarknet Summer Institute offers research opportunities to high school teachers and their students at the University of Iowa.

Multiple opportunities in STEM are also available for students this summer! The University of Iowa Belin-Blank Center is hosting several programs for students, including the Junior Scholars Institute for students in grades 6-8 and the National Scholars Institute for students in grades 9-11. The Belin-Blank Center also supports the Blast program for elementary-aged students in Ankeny, Waukee, and Iowa City.

Kirkwood KICK Camps are another awesome experience for students ages 9-15; these camps are designed around career exploration and involve numerous STEM topics and college and career preparation. Southeastern Community College is hosting KidTek U again this year to introduce various careers to students entering grades 4-6 living near Mt. Pleasant, Burlington, Fort Madison, and Keokuk. Imagination Iowa Camps for students in grades 2-10 will be held throughout the months of June and July in the Geonetric building in NewBo in Cedar Rapids. Several Pre-Engineering camps are being offered by the University of Iowa College of Engineering as well, including options for students in grades K-9!

For more information on summer opportunities for teachers and students, visit our website.

Coralville Hosts FTC State Championship

The Coralville Marriott hosted the 2016 First Tech Challenge State Championship on March 5th, with 46 teams from Iowa and 2 from Nebraska competing for 12 spots in the Super Regional competition. Over 80 volunteers and major sponsors including John Deere, Rockwell Collins, Mid-American Energy, and the Governor's STEM Council made the event a tremendous success. Twelve teams now move on to the Super Regional competition being held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 18th & 19th. All competitions are free and open to the public!

Reminder to Scale-Up Educators: Evaluate Your Program

While the 2015-2016 implementation of your STEM Scale-Up Program winds down, evaluators are winding up to capture effects of your work bringing high quality STEM programming to students across Iowa.

As part of your STEM Scale-Up Program service agreement, all educators are expected to contribute to the STEM Scale-Up Program evaluation. The evaluation is comprised of three parts: 1) Educator Survey, 2) Student Participant List, and 3) Student Survey. All schools and organizations awarded a STEM Scale-Up Program are expected to complete the 1) Educator Survey and 2) Student Participant List.

In addition, SOME schools and organizations were randomly selected to complete the 3) Student Survey. Selected schools were notified in Fall 2016 to complete a "Beginning of the Year" (i.e. pre-program) and "End of the Year" (i.e. post-program) student survey. If you completed a "Beginning of the Year Student Survey" with your students, please remember to submit the "End of the Year Student Survey."

Instructions for the three-part evaluation can be found here: http://iowastem.gov/scale-monitoring

The 1) Educator Survey, 2) Student Participant List, and 3) End of the Year Student Survey can be completed at the end of your STEM Scale-Up Program. The final DEADLINE for submitting the three evaluation tasks is May 30, 2016.

Please direct questions to:

Erin Heiden 319-273-6506 / [email protected]

Mitch Avery 319-273-7451 / [email protected]

Evaluation is key to our future success. THANK YOU for helping us evaluate our work together!

New Resources Added!

A collection of resources for STEM educators, businesses, and community members

Renewable Energy Activity Kits

The Southeast STEM Hub is proud to partner with the ATEEC Interactive Learning Lab at Eastern Iowa Community College to offer renewable energy activity kits to educators throughout the southeast region. Thanks to the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, ATEEC is able to offer a variety of kits that are sure to engage any student. If interested in checking out a kit or for more information on the available kits, click here

Pint Size Science Kit Check-Out

Four types of kits from the Science Center of Iowa that are designed for 3-5 year old students are currently available for checkout. If interested in checking out a kit or for more information on the kits that are available, click here.

A World In Motion Activity Kit Check-Out!

Three types of kits designed for primary or elementary students are currently available for checkout. If interested in checking out a kit or for more information on the kits that are available, click here.

Materials may be checked out for 6 weeks. They can be picked up and returned at the Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa, 2301 Oakdale Boulevard, Coralville, IA 52241 . Please replace any consumables you use.

Sincerely,

Kristine Bullock
SE Iowa STEM Manager
[email protected]