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Kristine Bullock
SE Hub Manager
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Saturdays 2pm-4pm
Iowa City Public Library
Thursdays 4pm-5pm Keokuk Public Library
Davenport Public Library
Tuesdays
4:30pm-5:30pm Davenport Pubic Library
LEGO Time Thursdays 4:00 -5:00 Fairfield Public Library
Aug 2 2pm-4pm
DeltaV Code School
St. Ambrose University
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| Submit Your STEM Event HERE |
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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.
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Hundreds of SE Iowa Educators Attend STEM Scale-Up Training
It's a long held myth that educators spend the whole summer lounging by the pool and detach from teaching. Many educators enjoy these benefits of summer but in Southeast Iowa, hundreds are also attending STEM professional development in one of the nine
Iowa STEM Scale-Up programs. These nine programs were selected through a rigorous process that recruited top notch programs shown to increase student interest and achievement in STEM. After these programs were selected, in-school and out-of-school educators from across Iowa applied to receive the programs for their classrooms.
Since July 1, Southeast Iowa educators have been trained in the following scale-up programs: Engineer Your World, Computer Science Discoveries, STEM Innovator, Pint Size Science and Making STEM Connections. Through this professional development, educators have engaged in hands-on learning ranging from civil engineering, entrepreneurship, design, app development and more. The training and materials provided by the STEM Council and the Scale-Up providers will allow these educators to positively impact over 20,000 preK-12 students throughout the region. The full list of awarded educators can be found
here.
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Festival Exhibitors Needed to Spark STEM Interest
This October, the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council will be hosting a free science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) festival for students and families in and around Johnson County and Scott County. The goal of the Johnson County and Quad Cities STEM Festivals are to nurture interests of children and families in the exciting fields of STEM. Organized like a street festival or county fair, visitors stroll from activity to activity to see compelling, educational and entertaining activities to boost their interest in STEM.
A key component to our festival is fun and interactive hands-on activities for K-8th grade students. Your festival activity
will provide an excellent opportunity to educate the public face-to-face about the wonders of STEM and to showcase
your business/organization. To register to have an exhibit at the event, please visit the links below. For examples of past exhibits, please view Past Festival Exhibitors
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Information and Guidelines
1. Booths will be approximately 10'x10'. Each booth will be supplied with one chair. If you would like a larger
space, please include that information when registering.
2. Electrical power will be limited. Avoid the use of electricity if possible or supply your own batteries.
3. All activities should be interactive and have a clear take-home message.
4. Ideal activities will serve a large number of visitors. This can be accomplished by developing an activity that can be
done by many visitors simultaneously or quickly by few. If it is short in duration, you may wish to prepare a
secondary activity for kids who become very engaged. You could also provide instructions for an activity that can
be done safely at home.
5. Safety is paramount. Consider the safety of festival volunteers and visitors as you design your activity.
Activities that the planning committee deems unsafe will not be included. Contact us if you have questions
about the safety of your proposed activity.
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Johnson County STEM Festival
October 10, 2019 | 4 PM - 7:30 PM
Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa
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Quad Cities STEM Festival
October 29, 2019 | 4 PM - 7:30 PM
Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center
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CornCon Cyber Security Conference Returning for a 5th Year
The Southeast Iowa STEM Hub is proud to partner with the Quad Cities Cybersecurity Alliance for the 5th Annual CornCon Five-0: QC Cybersecurity Conference, Workshop and Kids' Camp September 6 - 7 at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. The event
seeks to raise awareness to cybersecurity threats, offer solutions, and inspire the next generation of security professionals
to prepare and defend against cybersecurity threats.
Friday, September 7 will feature a workshop for business leaders and IT professionals, taught by information security executives. The general conference will commence on Saturday, September 7, with a full day of expert speakers, hands on workshops and contests. The Saturday conference also offers children an opportunity to learn about the field of cybersecurity. The kids' hacker camp, known as The Children of The CornCon, will introduce 100 kids to 20+ STEM related activities, including: lockpicking, coding, electronics, cryptography, privacy and the ethical use of technology.
Kids are great with technology," says John Johnson, CornCon Co-Founder and Conference Chair. "When you understand technology and how it can be vulnerable, you have a responsibility to use that knowledge to promote safety, privacy and security and defend against cybercriminals. We show kids the benefits of technology and the risks.
Making and breaking, hacking and learning, while instilling an ethical framework for the creation and use of technology
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Registration and additional information can be found on the conference website:
www.corncon.net
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Building Connections to Local Economic Development
The Southeast Iowa STEM Region covers 18 diverse counties, each with a distinct personality. Our goal is to further connect our school districts, business, students and parents to the world of STEM and through wide range of engagement we provide.
On Monday July 8th we stopped by the Sigourney Public Library to speak with Amanda Rostami, Library Director. The library moved to its new location on the east side of town in 2005. Amanda and her volunteer staff offer summer activities including "Space Day: Blast off with Books" and are looking for other opportunities to partner with STEM related activities for children and families of all ages. The library provides a summer reading program and would like to tap in to the SE Region STEM Hub "library" for activities, and will get involved in the next STEM Festival in the Keokuk County area. Amanda will also check out the next round of Scale Up programming. Thank you Amanda for taking the time to meet and learn more about the Governor's STEM Council and telling us  about Sigourney!
Sigourney, Iowa is the county seat for Keokuk County in SE Iowa. Named after popular poet Lydia Sigourney, this unique community is home to a little over 2100 people. The local government is a Mayor/Council charter, with the City Clerk serving as the head administrator for the city. We stopped by on July 8th to speak with Angela Alderson, City Clerk. As luck would have it, she gave us an hour of her time for a drop in visit. We discussed growth and maintenance challenges Sigourney faces while also touching on the draw of people to live in the community. We touched on STEM Festivals, Scale-Up programming, and Externships. Her daughter is a teacher in the Sigourney District and is a possible contact for other teachers to explore extern opportunities. The former police chief is also on the school board and will be an excellent contact to connect with. The city recently received grants to improve the  aging water system, an excellent opportunity for a teacher externship next summer.
By developing connections with the communities we serve, down to the individuals, we are able to provide STEM programming that is designed for collective success. Thank you for your time for our "drop in" visit!
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Available Resources
A collection of resources for STEM educators, businesses, and community members
Virtual Reality Headsets
6 Virtual Reality 3D headsets are available for checkout. Students can use the headsets to view STEM career videos, explore the world beyond the classroom and much more. Educators will need to have access to Apple or Android device to use with the glasses (typically student's personal device). If interested in checking out the glasses, click
here.
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
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Please replace any consumables you use.
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Sincerely,
Kristine Bullock
SE Iowa STEM Manager
kristine-bullock@uiowa.edu |
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