Upcoming Events
May 10
May 26
Northeast Iowa STEM Advisory Board meeting
June 22-23
July 1
Professional Development begins for Scale-Up awardees
August 9-14
August 22
STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair
Have an event coming up?
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Northeast Region
of the Iowa
Governor's STEM Advisory Council
Advisory Board
Sue Burrack
Upper Iowa University
Lisa Chizek
Iowa State
University
Kendra Crooks
Chickasaw County Extension and Outreach
Kelly Cooper
Dubuque Area Labor-Management Council
Larry Escalada
University of
Northern Iowa
Heather Fransen
RSM, LLP
Gena Gesing
Northeast Iowa Community College
Seth Harms
West Delaware
High School
Doreen Hayek
University of
Northern Iowa
Ellen Heuer
Martin Brothers Distributing
Jason Martin-Hiner
Keystone Area Education Agency
Kim Miller
TDS Automation
Allison Plunkett
John Deere
Miriam Ohrt
John Deere
Anderson Sainci
City of Dubuque
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Insider Look at Launching a
STEM BEST® Program
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Authentic learning experiences allow students to gain important life skills at an early age, while equipping them for future education and employment opportunities. STEM BEST Program partner, Rachael Strong of North Fayette Valley, worked with Keystone Area Education Agency to develop a video about how to implement authentic learning for students through the STEM BEST Program.
“If a teacher was wondering how to implement authentic learning within a core class, regardless of the age of the student, I think a good thing to do is to start small. Start with one project that maybe even you, as a teacher, are passionate about but you know that it aligns with your curriculum standards,” said Strong. She then recommends engaging community partners and colleagues.
Strong also noticed a shift in learning environment from being instructor-led to being more student-led. Last fall, students identified projects they were interested in through the Iowa Clearinghouse for Work-Based Learning. Students could then reach out to the community partner on the Clearinghouse or adapt those projects to their local community.
Another project they have been working on has been establishing an off-campus professional workspace for students that flips the script on the traditional classroom. “We wanted a space that was welcoming to both community partners and to students. When you come here, it's going to be collaborative work and it's going to be impactful work outside of the classroom,” said Strong.
Apply today to be the next STEM BEST program. The STEM BEST Program application is open through May 10, 2021.
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ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS
Applications for STEM BEST® must be submitted by Iowa public and non-public school districts and buildings serving students in grades K-12. Clusters of schools and/or districts are encouraged to apply.
Different school buildings within an Iowa district may submit an independent STEM BEST proposal in the same proposal period.
REQUIREMENTS
An applicant is required to provide a 1:1 match, up to $25,000. The match may be either cash and/or in-kind support. The match may be contributed by the applicant or a community partner. To be eligible as match, the cash and/or in-kind contribution must be provided during the funding period of the STEM BEST® Program award.
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Hundreds of Organizations to
Receive STEM Programs for
2021-2022 School Year
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On April 9, nearly 350 educators across Northeast Iowa were awarded one of 12 available Iowa STEM Scale-Up Programs . These programs will impact approximately 22,300 students in Northeast Iowa and offer curriculum in agriculture, robotics, energy, innovation, interactive math and more. Now approaching its tenth year, these programs were awarded to cross-curricular educators from PreK-12 schools, after school programs and other educational organizations.
The Iowa STEM Council has shown that students who participate in Scale-Up programs perform better on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress compared to students who did not receive STEM Scale-Up Programming.
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Iowa Pre-Service Teacher
STEM Conference A Success!
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Teacher preparation intersected with STEM education during the 2021 Pre-Service Teachers STEM Conference on April 9 and 10.
Hosted by the University of Northern Iowa College of Education and the Northeast Iowa Region Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, the two-day virtual conference was entitled “Be Inspired: STEM in Your Future Classroom.”
Nearly 150 registrants had the opportunity to hear from three keynote speakers among state and national leaders in STEM education, along with a full slate of presentations, breakouts and workshop sessions. The keynote presentations included:
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- Ohkee Lee, professor, childhood education, New York University, “STEM Education with Equity”
- Barb Schwamman, superintendent, Osage Community School District, “Computer Science Education, Why YOU Matter!”
- Jeff Weld, executive director, Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council.
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Attendees represented students from14 higher education institutions throughout Iowa. |
Thank You to our planning committee for hosting a successful conference. Members of the committee included faculty from the University of Northern Iowa, University of Iowa, Iowa State University and Upper Iowa University.
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