Northwest Iowa STEM Newsletter

May 2022

Mary Trent

NW Regional STEM Manager

Contact me at mtrent@iowalakes.edu

Northwest Regional Advisory Board Members

Tina Benton,

Sioux City

Ben Bouza,

Hawarden

Beth Bunkers, Primghar

Tyler Hahn,

Cherokee

Lex Jacobson,

Ida

Kiana Johnson, Primghar

Jordan Menning, Rock Rapids

Faith Miller,

Carroll

Andrew Roelfs,

Sioux Center

Mary Skopec,

Spirit Lake

Brenda Welch, Meriden

Mark Zabawa, Spencer

Check out NW STEM Web Site!

https://www.iowalakes.edu/stem/

Northwest STEM Calendar

Stay up-to-date on all Northwest STEM regional opportunities and even a few statewide. Use this calendar to share your STEM events with others.

NW STEM Lending Resources

Check out the STEM lending library for educators and place your order online.

Don't forget to connect with NW STEM on social media as well!

Check us out on Facebook:

@NWSTEM Region

https://www.facebook.com/NWStemRegion/

@NWIowaSTEM

Invite a friend or colleague to sign up for this newsletter:

http://goo.gl/oPZmPP

West Sioux County STEM Festival

NW STEM hosted a Sioux County STEM Festival for area preschool students and their parents on March 31, 2022 at the Hawarden Community Center. Families enjoyed many exhibits with hands-on activities highlighting STEM activities that can be done with household items. Information for parents was given to guide their children's STEM discovery learning and questions to encourage further exploration of the world around them.

NW STEM Checkout Items

Please Return By May 20, 2022

NW STEM Garage Sale of Old

Kits & Materials

Ok, it's not really a garage sale because ALL are FREE to a good home! Please take a few minutes to browse our items that we are willing to part with to make room for new kits. Please limit 3 items per person. First come, first serve! Items will be sent to you via the AEA Van system.

Link to Garage Sale Items

FIRST Upcoming Events

Growing with FIRST programs

Join the partners of the FIRST program (FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition) to learn and discover the differences between the programs. If you have a student, or a team who is ready to explore to the next level of competition or has "aged-out" and wants to continue, join us for a webinar on April 28 at 4pm. Targeted audience: Parents or coaches of students who are ready to transition to the next level of competition.

Zoom Link: https://uiowa.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEode-prDIjGNHsD27b4_O1trSzCeabIXqB

FIRST & School Districts

Join the partners of the FIRST programs to learn how successful school districts implement all FIRST programs, from early elementary through high school. These school districts implement FIRST as an after-school, extracurricular activity. This webinar will be held on Monday, May 9 at 4pm. Targeted audience: School administrators and teachers who want to incorporate all FIRST programs.

Zoom link: https://uiowa.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpd-ugrD8sE9F-IQ8t6XfZ8-4PkH50VB-O

FIRST Tech Challenge Coach & Mentor Professional Development

Join other coaches and mentors, returning and rookie, as we take a deep dive into the tricks and tips of bring a successful coach or mentor of an FTC team. This three-day, hands-on workshop will explore the different facets of FTC: from successful recruiting of students; team fundraising; building a team and robot design, programming and a competition. This event will be held, in-person, at the University of Iowa College of Engineering. For more information, and how to register, visit https://engineering.uiowa.edu/first-tech-challenge-coach-professional-development

STEM Offers Educator Scholarships

The Executive Committee of the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council determined that two supports for STEM educators are needed in order to maintain the high quality and essential role of STEM education throughout the state:

Incentive for practicing STEM professionals to career transition to teaching.
Support for in-service STEM teachers to update their skills and knowledge in the fast-moving fields of STEM.

For STEM professionals seeking support to career-transition to teaching, access the RAPIL scholarship here:

STEM Pro -> STEM Teacher

For in-service STEM teachers seeking support to enroll in a course to update skills and knowledge, access the STEM-LIfT scholarship here:

STEM Teacher -> STEM "LIfT" Teacher

STEM BEST 2022

Due Date is May 9, 2022

The STEM BEST Program provides up to $25,000 to Iowa public and

non-public school districts and buildings for models that demonstrate business-education partnerships and provide work-based learning experiences for students.

Nearly 700 partnerships have been created through this program. The first step is to identify key players and form a team to meet the needs of the local community.

A 1:1 match of cash and/or in-kind support is required and can be contributed by the applicant or a community partner.

For more information and to apply for this award, Please visit: www.IowaSTEM.org/STEMBEST

Share your Scale-Up Story with Us!

Were you awarded a Scale-Up Program this year? If so, please share your story and pictures with us! We will share your story in our newsletters and social media. Invite me out to see the Scale-up Program in action!

Email: mtrent@iowalakes.edu

NW STEM Checkout System Closes

May 20, 2022

NW STEM Checkout system has many great STEM Scale-Up kits as well as other materials perfect for classrooms, homeschools, libraries, and after school groups! And the best part, everything is FREE!!

We utilize the AEA van system to make deliveries of all our kits. You can keep the kits as long as you need them and simply set them out for the AEA van to pick up. It's as simple as that!

You can find a complete list of our items and check out form here:

https://www.iowalakes.edu/stem/stem-resources/.