IN THIS ISSUE
Seeing More in Your Fields Through STEM Teacher Externships
Summer Scale-Up Professional Development Heats Up in July
STEM BEST Program Sparks Success in Iowa Schools
Computer Science is Elementary Adds Six More Schools
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July 18, 2019 - 12:00 p.m.
Northeast Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
July 23, 2019 - 10:00 a.m.
STEM Day at the Johnson County Fair
July 26, 2019 - 12:00 p.m.
North Central Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
August 18, 2019 - 9:00 a.m.
STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair
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Seeing More in Your Fields Through STEM Teacher Externships
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Tricia Reichert, science teacher at Emmetsburg High School, is a STEM Teacher Extern at MaxYield Cooperative this summer, working on recruitment and retention of interns.
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Tricia Reichert, Emmetsburg High School science teacher, is completing a six-week Iowa STEM Teacher Externship with MaxYield Cooperative this summer. In line with MaxYield’s mission of “Seeing More In Your Fields,” she has been tasked with assisting this progressive cooperative with “seeing more” in their young agronomy interns in terms of recruitment and retention. Reichert plans to translate this experience into the classroom by helping better prepare her students to enter the workplace.
“Education and ‘the real’ workplace share many commonalities. Whereas I am looking for student engagement and academic growth in the classroom, MaxYield is currently very focused on Agronomy interns who are willing to learn to be productive members of the MaxYield team who then ultimately remain with the company. As a classroom teacher, I have seen a shift in the work ethic of my students, and it seems this is a trend that has been felt in the work place as well,” said Reichert. “One of my main tasks this summer is to brainstorm how MaxYield can better recruit and retain the young interns. How can I as a classroom teacher better prepare students of today to be well-qualified MaxYield team members of tomorrow?”
Year after year, educators and business partners find great value in these partnerships. According to an externship survey completed in 2018, the most valued outcomes for externship host employers were:
- Elevated awareness by the educator of their business in the community
- Increased interest in future workforce
- School-business partnerships
- Workplace relevance
Based on the same survey, educators indicated the primary reasons for participating were:
- Bringing authentic business experiences into the classroom
- Discovery of the “soft skills” students need to succeed
- Becoming better equipped to advise students on career opportunities
- Building partnerships with employers
This experience is one of 83 six-week externships taking place across Iowa this summer. To learn more about the STEM Teacher Externship Program, visit
www.IowaSTEM.gov/externships
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Summer Scale-Up Professional Development Heats Up in July
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More than 1,200 educators are expected to take part in STEM Scale-Up Professional Development trainings throughout Iowa next month.
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As the weather heats up in July, so does the professional development trainings for the STEM Scale-Up Program. More than 1,200 Iowa educators will be taking part in these trainings to prepare for implementation of a Scale-Up Program during the coming school year.
The Scale-Up Program is expected to impact an estimated 83,000 students in 2019-2020. Students who participate in this program continue to perform better on the Iowa Assessments. In 2017-2018, Scale-Up Program participants scored an average of two points higher in National Percentile Rank in mathematics and reading and three points higher in science. For minority students, the growth was even greater – five points in math, science and reading.
After completing a thorough review process, a menu of ten high-quality STEM programs were selected in January to “scale-up” in Iowa’s PreK-12 schools, afterschool programs and other educational settings. Iowa’s regional STEM managers, guided by their regional STEM advisory boards, selected recipients throughout the state based on need, student diversity, geographic distribution, capacity to sustain and other factors.
Since 2012, funding from the Iowa legislature has enabled more than 500,000 PreK-12 Iowans to take part in these proven learning models.
A complete list of 2019-2020 STEM Scale-Up Program awards and more information about the Scale-Up Program can be found at
www.IowaSTEM.gov/Scale-Up
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STEM BEST Program Sparks Success in Iowa Schools
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Ottumwa High School SparkTank, a STEM BEST® Program model, assisted Wapello County Emergency Management Agency with the development of a website as one of their student business projects.
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As part of the STEM BEST® Program, Ottumwa High School launched SparkTank in August 2018. This project-based experience connects students with local businesses and organizations, allowing students to solve real problems in authentic learning environments, while becoming immersed in a professional culture.
The program, located in downtown Ottumwa in a site more business-like than school, offered two strands, engineering and communications technology. Students select projects submitted by local employers based on their interests. Project deadlines and operating in a professional manner in a collaborative environment are part of the day-to-day learning.
In collaboration with Wapello County Emergency Management Agency, two student associates researched, designed and developed a
website
for the agency. The work was timely. With spring flooding in the area, the site was an important tool to update residents on the daily forecast.
“SparkTank allowed me to focus on the aspects that will make me successful after high school,” said Cody Cochell, a SparkTank student associate who worked on the
website project
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SparkTank replicates a professional work environment, and students notice the difference. Students completing the SparkTank experience have learned and practiced employability skills, developed technical skills and learned to work in teams.
In the coming year, the program will add two strands that will expand project-based opportunities for students in the areas of manufacturing and construction. Students who enroll in Ignite, another new strand, will follow the same learning objectives and community connections as engineering and communications technology yet will cover multiple career clusters through the same authentic learning opportunities.
The STEM Council has awarded
50 STEM BEST® Programs
since 2014 with an opportunity to grow a series of community collaborations involving school+business partnerships.
Applications are currently being accepted for the 2019 STEM BEST® Program. To apply or learn more about the STEM BEST® Program, visit
www.IowaSTEM.gov/STEMBEST
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Computer Science is Elementary Adds Six More Schools
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Twelve schools in Iowa will transform into models of computer science instruction, in addition to Loess Hills Computer Programming School, the inspiration for the project.
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Six additional elementary schools received $50,000 grants each to transform themselves into models of innovative computer science instruction through a joint project of the Iowa Department of Education and the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. This increases the total number of schools participating in the
Computer Science is Elementary
project to 12 across the state.
The six additional schools to receive support for computer science innovation are:
- Pocahontas Elementary in the Pocahontas Area Community School District
- Franklin Elementary in the Boone Community School District
- Hospers Elementary in the MOC-Floyd Valley Community School District
- Storm Lake Elementary in the Storm Lake Community School District
- Kingsley-Pierson Elementary in the Kingsley-Pierson Community School District
- Whittier Elementary in the Clinton Community School District
The six initial schools selected to receive support for computer science innovation are:
- Denison Elementary in the Denison Community School District
- Lenihan Intermediate in the Marshalltown Community School District
- Cora B. Darling Elementary in the Postville Community School District
- East Union Elementary in the East Union Community School District
- Perry Elementary in the Perry Community School District
- Richardson Elementary in the Fort Madison Community School District
The 2019 Legislature appropriated an additional $1 million for the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, which allowed the Council to designate $300,000 for the six additional schools. Private-sector partners contributed $300,000 for the first six schools, plus $50,000 for Loess Hills Computer Programming School in Sioux City, which inspired the project and will continue to serve as a resource. All 12 schools will start their programs by 2020-21.
The Computer Science is Elementary project aligns with Future Ready Iowa, which sets the goal of 70 percent of our workforce having education or training beyond high school by the year 2025. The initiative also focuses on strengthening preK-12 education and career exploration and preparation.
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Contact the Iowa STEM Operations Center by phone at (319) 273-2959
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