December 2019
Monthly News
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IN THIS ISSUE
Nineteen STEM BEST Models Taking It Up A Notch
Iowa’s Latest
STEM Gem
To Provide Career Inspiration
Iowans Well-Served By STEM Public-Private Partnership
What A Difference A Year Makes: STEM In 2019
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January 10, 2020 - 10:00 a.m.
Northwest Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
January 10, 2020 - 12:00 p.m.
North Central Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
January 14, 2020 - 1:00 p.m.
South Central Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
January 16, 2020 - 9:00 a.m.
Southeast Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
January 16, 2020 - 1:00 p.m.
Northeast Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
January 27, 2020 - 12:00 p.m.
Southwest Regional STEM Advisory Board Meeting
January 31, 2020 - 10:00 a.m.
Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council Meeting
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Nineteen STEM BEST Models Taking It Up A Notch
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St. Theresa in Des Moines was named a STEM BEST Program partner in 2018. The award funds helped open a Makerspace during the 2019-2020 school year.
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Building a culture to grow and expand workplace experiences, the STEM BEST Program encourages teachers and industry professionals to work side-by-side on curriculum and projects that give students actual workplace experience and an understanding of the opportunities and required skills for careers in STEM fields.
To help enrich or expand current STEM BEST Programs, the STEM Council directed additional support toward 19 STEM BEST (
Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers
) Program partners through the STEM BEST Program Enhancement Fund. The funds will help enhance work-based learning opportunities made available through school and business partnerships during the 2019-2020 academic year.
Awards will fund a wide array of partnering STEM BEST models. CAM Community School District plans to purchase an additional drone with thermal imaging capabilities along with other audio/visual equipment and will partner with the Industrial Arts and Agriculture Departments to assist with area farm needs. Cedar Falls Community School District will update technology equipment used for CAD drawings. Woodbine Community School District will be providing professional training to utilize videography software and equipment to provide mobile videography to enhance their “World of Work” field trips and alumni STEM interviews. IKM-Manning Community School District plans to add a heat transfer printer and heat press to expand upon a t-shirt printing business.
Additional STEM BEST Program Enhancement Fund recipients include Allamakee Community School District; Ankeny Community School District; Boone Community School District; Central Community School District; Davenport West Community School District; Charles City, New Hampton, Osage and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community School Districts; Keokuk Community School District; Marshalltown Community School District; Newton Community School District; Rock Valley Community School District; Sioux City Community School District; Southwest Valley School District; St. Theresa Catholic School (Des Moines); and Waukee Community School District.
The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council has named 63 STEM BEST Program awards since the program launched in 2014. The STEM BEST Program has also laid the groundwork for other successful statewide initiatives such as Future Ready Iowa’s Work-Based Learning Clearinghouse.
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Iowa's Latest
STEM Gem
To Provide Career Inspiration
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The latest STEM Gem poster features Youth and Special Services Librarian Tyler Hahn, who implements STEM on a daily basis in programming at the Cherokee Public Library.
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Nearly every career path has STEM components that are integral to the job, even careers that are often not associated as having an emphasis on STEM. For Tyler Hahn and the Cherokee Public Library, STEM has opened doors of possibility.
As the youth and special services librarian, Hahn develops and implements STEM programs at the library that encourage ongoing learning, creativity and fun.
“I am fortunate enough to be able to sit down one-on-one with my patrons to see what their interests are, where their passions lay, what they would like to do in life. And if there’s anything that I or the library can do to learn or facilitate that discovery,” said Hahn, “I try to give as much voice and choice to my patrons in programming as possible because I know that in order for the library to succeed, they need to succeed.”
Fourteen STEM Gem posters have been created over the past ten years featuring career fields in STEM teaching, engineering, computer programming, graphic design, aviation, race car driving and students preparing for future STEM careers.
The latest STEM Gem poster featuring Hahn will be mailed out to nearly 5,000 Iowa mathematics, science, technology and engineering educators to adorn classroom walls. Additionally, anyone wishing to receive the latest STEM Gem poster or the entire series may complete a request form or download and print in house at
https://iowastem.gov/stem-gem-poster-series
.
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Iowans Well-Served By Public-Private Partnership
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Many of the partners who help the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council maximize reach and impact of programming each year. Thank you!
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The STEM Council engages nearly 100,000 students and thousands of educators each year to increase interest and achievement in STEM studies and careers through programs, events and messaging. Exciting and educational opportunities in STEM are made possible through bi-partisan support of the Iowa Legislature, leadership and guidance from Co-Chairs Governor Kim Reynolds and Accumold President and CEO Roger Hargens, the STEM Advisory Council, regional STEM advisory boards and generous business and nonprofit partners who all believe in the importance of STEM education.
Each year, dozens of committed advocates representing business and nonprofits invest strongly in Iowa STEM through grants, partner gifts and cost-sharing. This year for example, 64
corporate partners
invested in the future workforce through contributions to STEM programs. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Resource Enhancement And Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP CEP) assured that life science teachers will be able to take part in summer externships through a competitive grant successfully proposed by STEM Council operations staff. The STEM Council’s operations team also successfully proposed a Department of Labor ApprenticeshipUSA subaward through Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) to support pre-apprenticeships implemented by four STEM BEST Program partners.
Other cost-sharing partners include Strategic America for all messaging support, Regional STEM Hub Institutions for regional manager support, STEM Teacher Externship workplace hosts for externs, Scale-Up programmers for educator support and STEM BEST partners for school-business partnership support.
To learn more about becoming a corporate partner, contact STEM Council Associate Director Carrie Rankin at
Rankin@IowaSTEM.gov
.
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What A Difference A Year Makes: STEM In 2019
In 2019, the STEM Council provided countless opportunities to educators to help inspire Iowa’s young people to become innovative, enterprising contributors to our future workforce and the quality of life in our communities. Here are a few highlights.
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Pint Size Science was one of ten high-quality programs selected for the 2018-2019 STEM Scale-Up Program menu. Designed for preschool through second grade students, Pint Size Science helps build science understanding and respond to ever changing interests and abilities of children.
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Ten high-quality STEM programs were selected for the STEM Scale-Up Program menu. More than 1,200 educators were awarded STEM Scale-Up Programs, impacting approximately 83,000 students during the 2019-2020 academic year. A special Mathematics Scale-Up Program menu was offered to help increase understanding, reasoning and interest in mathematics among students in Iowa. Three mathematics programs were identified to scale in 2019-2020 across Iowa. The Mathematics Scale-Up Program awards were delivered to nearly 700 educators and is expected to impact an estimated 19,000 students in 2019-2020.
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Ankeny Orbis has been a STEM BEST Program partner since 2017 and serves as a college and career readiness program to help prepare students for a lifetime of personal success.
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The STEM Council awarded 13 new STEM BEST
(Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers)
Programs to school districts across Iowa for a total of 63 STEM BEST® Programs that have been awarded during the past six years. These programs are providing meaningful work-based learning experiences and activities in the K-12 educational arena, involving nearly 80 businesses and community partners. Of the recently awarded STEM BEST Programs, approximately 5,000 students are expected to participate or be impacted by taking on a community project, business partner meetings and pitches or recruitment of peers.
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Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program
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Jorge Esquivel worked for the Iowa National Guard as a STEM Teacher Extern where he designed a coin to be 3-D printed and worked with motorpool and helicopter maintenance specialists.
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It was a record-setting tenth year of STEM Teacher Externships. Participation by the business sector and educator applications are at all-time highs thanks to ever-increasing private sector cost-sharing. In 2019, 83 educators were placed with 55 workplace hosts. Of the nearly 600 Iowa teachers who have taken part in the program over the past ten years, more than 90 percent consider it their most powerful professional development experience.
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I.O.W.A. STEM Teacher Award
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Lacy West, seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Missouri Valley Middle School, was recognized by Lt. Governor Adam Gregg at STEM Day at the Capitol as one of six STEM Teacher Award Program recipients in 2019.
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Each year, the STEM Council, in partnership with
Kemin Industries
, shines a light on six educators doing amazing work in STEM fields each year. In its sixth year, the award recognizes one full-time, licensed PreK-12 teacher from each of the state’s six STEM regions. The six teachers selected will receive an award of $1,500 for personal use and an additional $1,500 for his/her classroom.
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Students from Loess Hills Elementary in Sioux City receive computer science instruction across their curriculum. This model serves as a project resource for the twelve Computer Science is Elementary schools.
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Computer Science is Elementary Project
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The STEM Council partnered with the Iowa Department of Education to support twelve elementary schools receiving $50,000 grants each to transform into models of innovative computer science instruction through the Computer Science is Elementary project. All 12 schools will start their programs by 2020-21.
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On behalf of the Iowa Governor’s
STEM Advisory Council, we hope you had a happy holiday season and have a STEM-tastic year ahead!
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Contact the Iowa STEM Operations Center by phone at (319) 273-2959
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