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Kristine Bullock
SE Hub Manager
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Externship End of Year Forum
August 2, Huxley Learning Center
SE Advisory Board Meeting
August 18, 2:00-4:00, Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids
August 21, Iowa State Fairgrounds
SE Advisory Board Meeting
September 15, 9:00-11:00, TBD
September 26-27, Double Tree Hotel and Conference Center, Cedar Rapids
Making STEM Connections Webinar
September 27, 4:00-6:30 pm
Last Friday night of every month, 5:00-8:00 pm, Iowa Children's Museum
SE Advisory Board Meeting
October 20, 2:00-4:00, TBD
Making STEM Connections Webinar
October 25, 4:00-6:30 pm
Making STEM Connections Webinar
November 8, 4:00-6:30 pm
SE Advisory Board Meeting
November 17, 9:00-11:00, TBD
November 30, 4:00-7:00 pm, Kirkwood Washington County Regional Center
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| Submit Your STEM Event HERE |
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| 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. |
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STEM School+Business Innovation Conference- A Success!
On June 29, the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council hosted the STEM School+Business Innovation Conference in West Des Moines. The conference was a great success, uniting nearly 300 people from across the state of Iowa, including educators, principals and administrators, economic and workforce development leaders, and business leaders!
The conference sessions included topics such as STEM+Arts+Business, assessment of work-based learning and school+business partnerships, business incentives for partnering with schools, and designing teacher preparation programs for school+business collaboration. To view all of the session topics, view the
conference agenda.
Another feature of the conference was the Speed Showcase, an opportunity for conference attendees to visit four mini-sessions designed by exemplary Iowa school+business models. These school+business models had 15 minutes to present their program to the attendees, demonstrating how to create similar programs in other Iowa communities. The following school+business models participated in the Speed Showcase:
- DMACC's Teaching for the Workforce Workshop
- Iowa BIG
- Iowa Intermediary Network
- Iowa STEM Teacher Externships
- The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center
- Rocket Manufacturing
- Roosevelt HS-Confluence Brewery Partnership
- STEM Innovator
- Tama Elementary's STEM Program
- Waukee Apex
The end of the day's chance to learn more about how to write a strong STEM BEST proposal was attended by approximately 80 of the conference attendees. Because of the
current STEM BEST award opportunity through the STEM Council, conference participants were given the opportunity to learn from a panel about what makes a 'winning proposal.'
School+business partnerships across Iowa are invited to submit their proposal to establish a STEM BEST model at
www.IowaSTEM.gov/STEMBEST/Proposal
. All Iowa private and public schools and school districts serving students in any of grades K-12 are eligible to apply.
All six awarded applicants will receive $25,000 each to be matched with local cost-share and will be designated as an Iowa STEM BEST model. The application window will close on Friday, September 23, and recipients will be announced on November 2.
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Dual Advisory Board Meeting with SC Region Held in June
 On June 23, the SE Region held a dual advisory board meeting with the South Central STEM Region's Advisory Board at John Deere Works in Ottumwa.
The meeting contained discussion about best practices, including how to make connections with businesses and schools and how to best target rural areas of the state for STEM programming.
When discussing goals of the STEM Council, board members talked about using STEM literacy to help to build 21st century skills. Another growing need described by board members from both regions was job shadowing, especially due to the need for students to develop 'soft' skills like communication, dependability, and resiliency.
In addition to many discussions about the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council's work in the two regions, this meeting was also an opportunity to learn more about John Deere Works, a 116-year-old factory in Ottumwa.
David Bradford, who has worked for the factory for 18 years, explained to the advisory boards that "students don't always know what the opportunities are when they think about factory work; employees here are building careers." He described how rewarding his career at John Deere Works is because the company's purpose is "to sell goods to farmers who feed the nation."
As a reminder, all Southeast Regional STEM Advisory Board meetings are open to the public. For more information, click here or contact [email protected].
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Scale-Up Program Professional Development In Full Swing
With the start of a new fiscal year comes the much anticipated start of scale-up professional development. More than 250 educators impacting over 12,600 Southeast Iowa students have begun training for the 11 scale-up programs - CASE: Intro to Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, CASE: Natural Resources and Ecology, Engineering is Elementary, FIRST Robotics Competition, HyperStream, Making STEM Connections, PowerTeaching Math, Project Lead the Way: Intro to Computer Science, Project Lead the Way: Principles of Biomedical Science,
Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP) - Science and Global Issues: Biology, and Spatial-Temporal (ST) Math.
Making STEM Connections recently held a one-day training at the State Hygienic Lab in Coralville. Librarians, classroom teachers, and ISU Extension specialists engaged in hands-on activities around making including the use of saws, sewing machines, Makey Makey kits, soldering irons, and GoPro cameras, among others.
During the week of July 18th, SEPUP, another new program to the Iowa STEM Scale-Up menu, hosted training sessions on four high school life science topics: cell biology, evolution, ecology, and genetics. Awarded educators were able to choose the unit that best aligned to the needs of their classroom and after training will receive all of the materials they need to implement one of the units.
The Iowa STEM Scale-Up HyperStream also held a training session recently. Educators engaged in technology such as app development and robotics in order to learn more about the HyperStream program, which aims to expose students to real-world learning through technology projects, mentoring, and technology competitions.
Finally, educators spent a significant amount of time in Project Lead the Way (PLTW) training at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. Unlike other scale-up professional development, PLTW training is significantly longer, with Intro to Computer Science teachers spending one week on campus and Principles of Biomedical Sciences attending for two weeks.
A full list of awarded educators in the Southeast Region can be found
here and scale-up program summaries can be found
here.
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SE Region Visits Local STEM Businesses
 On June 23, Southeast Region STEM Hub manager Kristine Bullock, Public Relations Coordinator Dave Jacoby and Assistant Director for Development Carrie Rankin visited Agri-Industrial Plastics Company in Fairfield, Iowa. Lori Schaefer-Weaton (President), Katie Nichols (HR Manager), and Amy Jones (Business Development Director) took the time to walk us through their plant that designs, manufactures, and assembles EPA-compliant non-automotive fuel tanks. Agri-Industrial is very interested in the future pool of STEM trained workers for a variety of positions within the company. Agri-Industrial Plastics has been a champion for STEM education in the Fairfield School District, partnering to bring Project Lead the Way to classrooms and by connecting their employees to educators. Like many businesses within the Southeast Region, they are interested in the teacher externship program which has proven to be one of the most effective ways for teachers and businesses to build long-term collaborations. Watch for future partnership development with Agri-Industrial Plastics Company!
In addition to specific businesses, we also look to partner with umbrella organizations that advocate for business interests in support of education. Recently, the team met with the Iowa Taxpayers Association (ITA) to discuss their membership and potential partnerships. Jeff Smith, President/CEO, and Jeanne Fitzgerald, Associate Account Manager, discussed how their members could get more involved with the STEM BEST program which brings business leaders and educators together to collaborate on real-world problems for students. More information about ITA can be found here.
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Mark your calendars for STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair on August 21! Click here for details about this year's event.
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Available Resources
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
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Please replace any consumables you use.
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Sincerely,
Kristine Bullock
SE Iowa STEM Manager
[email protected] |
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