Mary Trent was recently named as the Northwest Regional STEM Manager headquartered at Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC). Trent personifies the excellence sought by a dedicated search committee headed up by ILCC Vice President of Administration Scott Stokes with contributors, Sharon Rosenboom, a STEM Council member, John Bedward, a Northwest Regional STEM Advisory Board member, and Executive Director Dr. Jeff Weld.

 

Trent, alongside her devoted counterparts, will work as the "boots on the ground" for Northwest Iowa to execute the priorities of the STEM Council and continue to strengthen relationships with PreK-12 schools, business and industry partners, nonprofit organizations, higher education and other community leaders. Some of her duties will include promoting the STEM Scale-Up Program ; convening the Northwest Regional STEM Advisory Board; conducting local, statewide and, even national, presentations on Iowa STEM; facilitating working groups; planning local family STEM festivals and more.

 

Trent's qualifications for the post are numerous as she has led her school system to a regional reputation for STEM excellence, while also serving a statewide role in advancing STEM education.

 

"My experience with professional development and partnership with AEA PD Online will definitely help the STEM movement in Iowa in providing quality STEM professional development throughout the state," Trent said. "Also, my experience as a technology integration specialist and STEM coordinator at our school will provide me a unique insight into STEM in schools."

 

Trent has been involved in numerous programs of the STEM Council as well, serving as a reviewer for STEM BEST®  proposals and contributor to the STEM Council's Active Learning Community Partners, Professional Development and Communications working groups.

 

After earning her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and a minor in Educational Computing from Iowa State University, Trent devoted 22 years to the youth of Kuemper Catholic School in Carroll as a first grade teacher and technology integration specialist. During that time, she also taught many courses through Heartland Area Education Agency (AEA) and AEA PD Online. Trent later earned her master's degree in Professional Education from Morningside College in Sioux City.

 

"I am most excited to spread the STEM initiative to all of Northwest Iowa," Trent said. "I hope to make the Northwest a beacon for great STEM in Iowa!"

 

For more information on Iowa STEM regions and their respective regional STEM managers, please visit www.IowaSTEM.gov/regions , and please help us give Mary a warm welcome to our team!

Robots crawled the floors and the sound of banging hammers filled the air Wednesday, March 15, as part of the Making a Difference - Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) conference at Iowa Lakes Community College. More than 150 girls in seventh and eighth grade from five schools attended the event, in which local industry leaders teach hands-on class meant to engage students, showing them that STEM fields are approachable, accessible and socially acceptable for women. 

"Today, I challenge you to keep an open mind," Mary Trent, Northwest STEM Regional Manager, told the girls during the opening session. This event helps girls start thinking about how STEM fits into what they already like to do, allowing them to build interest from there and perhaps choose STEM classes when they reach high school, Trent said. "It is so important because of the number of STEM jobs out there - and there's so few women in these industries," she added.

In the room with the "Robotics" sign, girls gathered in groups of two or three, holding tablet computers they used to control small, brightly-colored robots. In "Paleontology," girls learned about different types of fossils, and used tools to uncover "fossils" of their own. In "3D Printing and Applications," girls handled 3D printed materials, learned how they are made and saw a model printed before their eyes, all with the help of Todd Woolston, a Boone businessman and past graduate of Iowa Lakes Community College.

Other conference topics included virtual reality, nursing and emergency care, chocolate making and business ownership, personal training, Google Glass and dietetics. The conference also included opportunities in art, including sessions on photography and drawing; art is often added to STEM to create the acronym STEAM.

"We try to promote STEM opportunities for our young ladies," said Rick Reinking, Director of Strategic Partnerships/K-12 STEAM for Spirit Lake Community School District, who organized the event. "Research has shown that they don't always get a fair shake in that area."

  

The third annual conference drew students from Emmetsburg Community School District, Emmetsburg Catholic School, Spencer Community School District, Spirit Lake Community Schools, and Harris-Lake Park. Students from the Spirit Lake High School Key Club and staff from participating schools helped keep the event organized.

This event was sponsored in part by NW STEM Region of The Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council and hosted by Iowa Lakes Community College.

For more information about the award and all current and previous recipients, please visit www.stemaward.fluidreview.com .

 

 

In Iowa, a pathway exists for Agricultural Science teachers to qualify their courses for credits in Life Science, Chemistry and Physics as well as help students meet the Regent Admission Index.

 

The STEM Council's working group focused on Agricultural Science and STEM set out to find ways where the two could integrate. The group's final recommendations to the STEM Council included spreading the word about their findings: Agricultural Science courses that satisfy Iowa Core standards can count for certain high school science credits, but there is an approval process to consider.

 

That process includes ensuring teachers are certified to teach science before getting school board approval on the match. As an example, agricultural science teachers who use CASE (Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education) in the classroom have successfully made this happen in their local school districts already, including Matt Eddy.

 

"The school board of Southeast Polk High School approved my animal and plant biotech course as a biology science credit," said Eddy, Southeast Polk High School agriculture teacher. "Now, students have a lot more flexibility in choosing which biology class works best for their schedule. The biology teacher was also able to offer a different environmental science because of this change, which gives students even more options in meeting their high school science graduation requirements."

 

You can find out more on the approval process here: www.IowaSTEM.gov/AgisSTEM .

 

And, if you don't have CASE already in your classroom, CASE: Agricultural Power and Technology is on the 2017-18 STEM Scale-Up Program menu -available to you if you apply by March 3, 2017.

 

If you have any questions about this information, please email [email protected] .