June 2017

Kristine Bullock
SE Hub Manager


Last Friday night of every month, 5:00-8:00 pm, Iowa Children's Museum

Lee County Fair STEM Day
July 7 1:00 - 5:00 Donnelson, IA

Johnson County Fair STEM Day
July 26 3:00 - 7:00 Iowa City, IA

CEA, CIM, ES, PBS, POE July 24 - Aug 4 Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of 
Iowa

Mississippi Valley Fair STEM Days August 3 - 6 10:00 - 6:00

Extern Year End Forum August 4 Monsanto Learning Center Huxley, IA

August 14-15, Coralville

STEM Day at the State Fair August 20 9:00 - 7:00, Des Moines

September 15 5:00

Washington County STEM Festival November 30 4:00 - 7:00 Washington, IA
Submit Your STEM Event HERE


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. 
 
2016-17 STEM BEST Awardees See Success & 
New Proposals Sought 

STEM BEST (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) focuses on teachers and industry professionals working side-by-side to craft curriculum and projects that prepare students for exciting STEM careers local to their community in manufacturing, information technology, bioscience (agriculture and medicine), finance, and more.

The STEM Council Executive Committee voted unanimously in October 2016 to disburse $250,000 in cost-shared funds to 10 competitively-selected school partnerships, bringing to the table a total cost-share commitment of $566,234.  T hree STEM BEST programs were awarded in the Southeast region  including Davenport Assumption, Fort Madison High School, and Muscatine Community Schools. 

 
Recently, Assumption High School along with business partner VictoryVR unveiled a series of 21  caree r videos   that will change the way students learn about STEM careers.  From a local robotic dairy farmer to an industrial engineer to a patent attorney, students have the opportunity to step into laboratories, medical clinics, solar farms and more as STEM professionals explain their jobs and educational pathways.  According to Wendy Martin, a science teacher at Assumption High School, these videos are "making learning real" and help teachers guide students through STEM career conversations.  To learn more about the videos, check them out in the app store .  

STEM BEST programs are not limited to high school students, however.  This past winter, Muscatine Community Schools partnered with Muscatine Community College and local businesses to connect fourth and fifth grade standards to real world applications. For five months, students from a ll six elementary schools met after school for hands-on, project based learning led by industry experts.  Professionals from ATEEC, Bridgestone, 
CoderDojo, Discovery Center, HNI, Kent, Monsanto, MPW, Nahant  Marsh, Stanley Consultants and Van Meter led  students through activities centered on agriculture, chemistry, environmental science, engineering, coding and robotics.  To learn more about their program, check out their website .


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Do you have an interest in building or strengthening school-business partnerships in your community?  The STEM Council is currently accepting proposals for up to $25,000 in funding for work done October 2017 to June 2018.  Applications are due September 15.  For more information, visit here.
 
County Fairs Allow Students to Explore STEM

Every year, thousands of Iowans participate in county fairs to see anything from  livestock to tractors, sheep shows to talent shows and every food item that you can eat on a stick.  But county fairs are also a place for young Iowans to engage in hands-on STEM activities as part of each fair's Kid's Day. This summer, the Southeast STEM Hub will be participating in three county fairs in addition to STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair.

For these events, we will be engaging students in hands-on coding activities and virtual reality career exploration.

Come see us at the following events:
 - Lee County Fair July 7 1:00 - 5:00
 - Johnson County Fair July 26 3:00 - 7:00
 - Mississippi Valley Fair Aug 3 & 4 10:00 - 2:00
 - Iowa State Fair August 20 9:00 -7:00
 
 
Fast Track Iowa's Future Conference Strengthens 
Iowa's STEM Talent Pipeline


On June 21, nearly 500 people representing higher education, business and industry, K-12 education, and workforce development gathered in Des Moines to learn about education-workforce innovations and to engage in dialogue on how to grow and improve partnerships.  The main goal of the event was to equip attendees with  the knowledge, connections and resources to build school+business partnerships in home communities.

"Future Ready Iowa is about meeting our state's need for talent in high-demand business sectors that drive Iowa's economy, like advanced manufacturing, healthcare, agricultural science, information technology, finance and other fields." Gov. Reynolds, co-chair of the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council, said. "That is what this conference was about. Connecting education systems with the recipients they serve - employers-so that graduates are job-ready for the exciting, meaningful strong wage occupations that await right here in local communities across the state." 


Southeast STEM Advisory Board member Dana Millard of Lee County Economic Development Group (EDG) participated in a panel highlighting best practices for convening schools and local employers.  As part of their 2018 capitol campaign, Lee County EDG conducted interviews with over 20 employers and found that a qualified workforce was their number one limiting factor to growth.  As a result of their interviews, they launched a series of breakfast meetings that put industry leaders and educators in the same room to work on ten goals ranging from elementary outreach to uptraining the existing workforce.  "The key part of these initiatives is our partnerships... The individuals who attended the Talent Breakfasts were asked to help support these programs and we recruited more volunteers as the program grew." said Millard.

As part of the speed showcase, Marion Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) President Nick Glew highlighted their new program, Community Promise which promotes high demand careers through a local job profile database.  Through this program, parents and students are able to explore required training, benefits received, and job descriptions for local positions and from there, design custom high school academic pathways.  Students who choose to commit to a specific local career pursuit are then qualified to receive financial resources to support certifications or career training.

Other Southeast Iowa programs highlighted at the event include the University of Iowa's STEM Innovator program, Davenport West Inspire (a 2017 STEM BEST program), Rockwell Collins' internship program, Kirkwood Community College's Workplace Learning Connection, and teacher internships and externships at Indian Hills Community College.  To learn more about the Future Ready Iowa initiative, visit https://www.futurereadyiowa.gov/

 
 
 
Southeast Innovation Fund Seeds STEM Excitement

In January 2017, the Southeast STEM Region piloted the first STEM Innovation fund which is a public-private partnership to provide seed funding to programs that have potential to increase student interest and achievement in STEM.  On June 12 and 13, Keokuk Community School District partnered with North Cedar South Recycling and local business professionals to teach K-12 students the engineering design process through a cardboard challenge based on Caine's Arcade.

Over the course of two days,  students attended workshops to hear from STEM experts about the skills needed for their jobs, developed cardboard designs for anything from a jewelry box to a marble run to a basketball arcade game and worked with professionals to continuously improve their designs.  
Project director Diane Berner was amazed by the students' excitement and "could not believe how fast students ate lunch because they were so excited to continue working on their projects."  The event was also a great example of students working together and failing forward as they continued to push forward with their designs even when they encountered challenges.

The Southeast Innovation Fund was made possible through the generous support of Roquette, Alliant Energy, the University of Iowa Community Credit Union and ITC Midwest.   

 
 
Available Resources
A collection of resources for STEM educators, businesses, and community members
 
Pint Size Science Kit Check-Out
New BeeBot mats have been received and are available for checkout! 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.

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

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. 
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Sincerely,
 
Kristine Bullock
SE Iowa STEM Manager 
kristine-bullock@uiowa.edu