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Dear Friends of the Montana Girls STEM Collaborative Project...
Thanks for all the work you do to grow STEM for girls in Montana
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Collaboration Forum Success
Thank you to everyone that attended our event on May 19th
Thank you to everyone who attended our event, participated in the panels, or gave a presentation. We also
appreciate everyone who brought resources to share. Collaboration forums are not possible without you!
We would like to thank the West Region Transportation Workforce Center for co-hosting this event with us and to the Women's Foundation of Montana for sponsoring this event and for being champions of STEM.
Additional support was provided by the Regional Library of Medicine via the MSU Library, and special thanks to Megan Davis from Techbridge, who assisted with our Role Models Matter training!
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A2Z Staffing Solutions invites MGSCP to Alive@5
MGSCP was selected as the featured nonprofit for Helena's summer concert series
Thank you to everyone who joined us on June 29th for Alive@5. And special thanks to A2Z Staffing Solutions for selecting us to be the featured non-profit and giving us an oppo
rtunity to share Girls STEM resources with Helena.
We enjoyed the opportunity to share about our organization.
Remember to check out our website for all the
resources you learned about at our booth:
The Connectory is a database where families can find current STEM opportunities available in their area.
Create a Fab Fems profile to expand girls' career options, dispel stereotypes and spark their interests - just by being you.
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Don't Miss the Afterschool & Beyond 2016 Conference
Join our friends at Montana Afterschool Alliance for this great event
Registration is open for the Montana Afterschool Alliance's second annual professional development conference on August 15-16, 2016. The conference will be held at the MSU Bozeman campus. The keynote speaker will be Ruby Payne, author of A Framework for Understanding Poverty. The conference will include a wide variety of workshops to benefit out-of-school time professionals in any role. Continuing education units will be available through the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
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Gwyneth Ovalley of Great Falls Wins Scholarship and Attends Aviation Career Exploration Academy
Academy hosted by MDT Aeronautics Division
Among winners to attend the Aviation Career Exploration Academy with a scholarship was 16-year old Gwyneth Ovalley of Great Falls who was awarded one of the $130 scholarships by the Montana Pilots' Association.
Ovalley joined ten other high school students from across Montana in Helena on June 28th and 29th to participate in MDT's academy. Each student made a one-hour flight in the Division aircraft and took a turn at the controls with experienced pilots. They toured the shop floors of Boeing Helena and Gordon Aircrafting to learn about the wide range of machining and fabrication methods used in aviation from single engine, all-wood airplanes up to commercial jetliners. Students were briefed about career paths by Army aviators, got a close-up view of a gas turbine engine from a Chinook helicopter, and were treated to an aerobatic flight demonstration by Jeanne MacPherson of Mountain Air Dance, LLC.
The scholarships for the Academy were generously sponsored by the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the Montana Pilots' Association, and the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 517.
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Combine STEM with art and service learning! Start a Destination Imagination team in your community
DI takes students from imagination to innovation
Traditional education is in urgent need of complementary programs focused on teaching students how to become world-class innovators and critical thinkers. Destination Imagination (DI) is a program that fills that need. As participants create solutions to Destination Imagination's STEM, artistic and service learning Challenges, they learn a remarkable set of skills, tools and methods that transforms the way they solve problems for the rest of their lives. Research and independent studies have taught us it is possible to transform the way a person thinks and interacts with others. The Destination Imagination program positively affects the way participants approach problems and find solutions. Destination Imagination is at the forefront of a movement to get beyond the rhetoric and meet the challenge of preparing all young people for the future.
Destination Imagination provides participants with opportunities to solve fun, engaging challenges. In DI students work as a team to solve a technical, scientific, engineering, or fine arts challenges. Participants are encouraged to keep an open mind, use skills they know and learn new skills to make their team's solution as creative as possible. Teams will present their solutions at the State tournament in mid-March with the chance to qualify for the Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee at the end of May.
In DI students develop and use their imaginations to improve our world while solving fun and engaging challenges designed to teach the creative process from imagination to innovation. The program takes place across 48 states and more than 30 countries.
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Do you work with middle school youth in an after-school setting? Let's talk about STEM!
The Montana Girls STEM Collaborative may have an opportunity to participate in a national-level STEM program designed for middle-school youth in an out-of-school setting. If you are connected to a group like this and meet with youth daily or weekly, please let us know and we'll keep in touch with you! Please email Suzi Taylor at
taylor@montana.edu
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Miss Montana is a STEM champion
Lauren Scofield of Havre will be competing for Miss America on Sept. 11, and she wants to come to your STEM events
Hello STEM Connoisseurs,
My name is Lauren Scofield, and in June I was crowned Miss Montana America 2016. I am a Havre native and graduated from Carroll College in May with a degree in Biochemistry-Molecular Biology and a minor in Gender Studies. During my year of service as Miss Montana, I have decided to promote the platform of STEM throughout the state. A large part of this STEM promotion will happen during my school tour, where I hope to visit 200 schools. My goal is to encourage students to recognize the importance, relevance, and excitement of STEM. I hope to create a pipeline of innovate leaders that are confident in their critical thinking skills and excited about the idea of pursuing a future career in a STEM field.
I first became interested in STEM because of the encouragement I received at a young age from positive female role models in these fields. I want to help be this inspiration for kids of all ages across the entire state. I hope to show kids that it is okay to be passionate about STEM, and that they are capable of integrating their other interests into these fields. I want to be a positive influence that will encourage these children to pursue their dreams and to always push their limits to find their ultimate potential, creativity, and personal success.
Not only will I be promoting my STEM platform during my school tour, but I want to be as involved as possible in various STEM events throughout the state. I would greatly appreciate if you would contact me anytime you think I could be involved in an event. I am so excited to work with groups in all four corners of the state, so never hesitate to contact me! I can be reached at
missmontanamao@gmail.com
or 406-262-4992. I greatly admire the work that each and every one of your groups has done in order to proactively educate our Montana students in the fields of STEM and I hope to hear from many of you soon!
Lauren Scofield
Miss Montana 2016
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Thanks, Women's Foundation of Montana
Thanks once again to the Women's Foundation of Montana for supporting the Montana Girls STEM Collaborative in your 2016 grant cycle. We appreciate that you see STEM as a strategy for ensuring all women have the tools, skills and opportunity to reach their full economic potential. We agree! You can read more about our upcoming project in the fall newsletter. Read more about all the grantees here:
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What's Happening?
Upcoming Events in Montana
"Transportation: A Natural Vehicle for Integrated STEM Learning" webinar
The West Region Transportation Workforce Center at MSU is collaborating with the Transportation Research Board and National Network for the Transportation Workforce to host a webinar on "Transportation: A Natural Vehicle for Integrated STEM Learning." The webinar will bring together a panel of national speakers facilitated by Martin Storksdieck, the director of Oregon State University's Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning. Panelists will present information on programs that foster STEM interest in diverse populations.
Register by clicking
here
Cost: FREE
Darby Community Public Library
Little Big Planet Club - Creative Practice
Week 1: Aug. 8th - 12th; 12:30 - 2:30pm
Week 2: Aug. 15th - 19th; 12:30 - 2:30pm
This is the more artistically driven version of LittleBigPlanet Club where students learn the tools then make any kind of project that strikes their fancy. This version is targeted more at students who wish to create digital art and see how games can be a valid form of artistic expression. Call 727 8255 to register.
Cost: $125 for 1 week, $225 for 2 weeks
Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls
Afterschool & Beyond 2016 Conference
August 15th - 16th
Looking for professional development in the youth development field? The Afterschool & Beyond 2016 conference features Ruby Payne as the keynote speaker, and a variety of workshops to benefit professionals in any role ranging from program leadership to program delivery. The conference will be held August 15-16 at MSU Bozeman. Visit
bit.ly/mtaa2016 for details and registration.
Cost: $180
Montana State University, Bozeman
Aeronautics STEM Teacher's Workshop
October 7th - 8th
The MDT Aeronautics Division will be conducting a Teacher's Workshop in conjunction with the Montana Learning Center based at Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena. The 2-day workshop will include hands-on use of tabletop wind tunnels for teaching aerodynamics in the classroom, as well as one-hour flights in Cessna aircraft with FAA Certified Flight Instructors. Topics to be covered include aerodynamics, aircraft systems, aviation weather, navigation, and cross-country flight planning. Further details may be found at
http://www.montanalearning.org/adult-programs
Canyon Ferry Lake
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VISTA Voice
A word from your Volunteer In Service To America!
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AmeriCorps VISTA Deanna Linn |
Hi Montana,
First, I'd like to thank everyone that attended the Collaboration Forum and Role Models Matter workshop on May 19th. It wouldn't have been the same without you. It was my first Collaboration Forum and I am glad I got to meet (in person) people I had talked to over the phone or e-mail. A big welcome to new organizations that attended our event; we are so happy you can be part of our network. And thank you to everyone that shared resources either as part of a presentation or the information tables.
Since the last newsletter, I got to travel to Box Elder for an Explore Science event at the Stone Child College Library, one of two libraries who participated in the project. Both libraries (Box Elder and Harlem) received a set of Explore Science kits from MSU Extended University and I had the opportunity to demo the kits at Box Elder. The librarians will be using them for future summer reading programs and other youth programming. In June, we had the opportunity to showcase our project at the Tribal College Librarian Institute in Bozeman. We gave a brief overview of the online resources available and afterwards participants got to do four of the hands-on activities.
It's been a year since I arrived in Bozeman for AmeriCorps VISTA and now it's time to say goodbye. I've enjoyed my time here. Thank you to everyone that helped me learn about the community and the state and who collaborated with me on projects. Special thanks to our board members and co-leaders. It's been great working with you. Also, a big shout out to my MSU Extended University family. And finally, thank you Montana, keep up the awesome work!
And a final note from Suzi....Thanks so much to Deanna for dedicating a year of her life to supporting the work we do to improve the future for girls in Montana! Thanks also to Montana Campus Compact for making this great partnership happen, and to the Women's Foundation of Montana for financial support. Deanna, we wish you lots of luck in your next endeavors and hope you come back to visit Montana!
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