Northwest Iowa STEM Newsletter

March 2021

Mary Trent

NW Regional STEM Manager

Contact me at mtrent@iowalakes.edu

Northwest Regional Advisory Board Members

Tina Benton,

Sioux City

Ben Bouza,

Hawarden

Derek Brower, Orange City

Beth Bunkers, Primghar

Tyler Hahn,

Cherokee

Kiana Johnson, Primghar

Nancy McDowell, Sheldon

Jordan Menning, Rock Rapids

Faith Miller,

Carroll

Teresa Putnam, Hartley

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

Applications Are Open for

2021 STEM Scale-Up Programs!

Application period closes March 5, 2021!

This year's menu offers a wide arrange of exciting and new programs sure to fit into your classrooms, after school programs, and educational programs!

Click here for more information

Schedule a virtual presentation of the Scale-Up programs

Customize which programs you'd like to hear about
Ask questions
Get tips on submitting quality applications

Click Here

SCALE-UP PROGRAM TIMELINE

January 11, 2021: Educator application opens
March 5, 2021, 11:59 PM Central Standard Time: Educator application submission deadline
March – April 2021: Review period
April 9, 2021: Awardees notified
May 2021: Program providers introduced to awarded educators to begin planning
Summer 2021: Training, professional development in preparation for program implementation during 2021-2022 academic year
July 1, 2021 – May 31, 2022: Implementation

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

January 26, 2021, 4:00-5:00 PM Central Standard Time: Scale-Up Program Application Webinar - Learn more about who may apply and tips to strengthen your application. CLICK HERE to listen to the webinar recording.
January - February 2021: Program Information Sessions - Learn more about what is offered for each Scale-Up Program. CLICK HERE to access the dates and times for each program.

Attention Grades K-4:

National Library Week STEM Challenge Festival April 2021

Students in grades K-4 in the NW STEM Region are invited to participate in the National Library Week STEM Challenge Festival beginning on April 1, 2021 and ending April 30, 2021.

Parents and teachers have until March 15, 2021 to register their students here: http://bit.ly/LibraryFest

The goals of festivals are to promote, inspire and engage youth in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities and to introduce students and parents to STEM careers in Northwest Iowa.

Librarians across the region have created videos of the reading of some STEM inspired children's books. We have paired STEM Challenges with each book. We also hope to encourage families to go visit their local library often!

Upon registration, students will receive a STEM Challenge Kit with materials to complete a challenge related to the story books. Kits will be delivered via AEA van systems.

Any questions, please email Mary Trent at mtrent@iowalakes.edu

2021 NW Iowa STEM Teacher Awardee: Robby Cundy, Sioux Center High School Mathematics Teacher

The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and Kemin Industries have announced the recipients of the 2021 Iowa STEM Teacher Award, sponsored by Kemin Industries.

The Northwest STEM Region’s honoree is Robbie Cundy, mathematics teacher at Sioux Center High School in Sioux Center, Iowa. He was selected for his dedication to providing engaging, hands-on activities that help students better understand STEM concepts.

As an educator, his ultimate goal is to inspire students. To reach that goal, he creates lessons designed to be enriching for students, incorporating interactive lessons with other important STEM skills like problem solving and collaboration. In his classroom, students use the floor as a graph and miniature Ferris wheels created from construction sets to understand trigonometry.

Cundy also uses experience with professional development and local partners to create a more engaging curriculum. After completing his most recent Iowa STEM Teacher Externship with Interstates, he connected his statistics students with the analytics team to learn about data, collaboration and problem solving. Students are now working with other local businesses to use data, analytics and statistics to propose business solutions.

This award recognizes and celebrates one teacher from each of the six STEM regions who goes above and beyond to increase their students’ interest in STEM. Each recipient was selected by a panel of judges after being nominated for the award by a colleague, school administrator, parent, student or community member and completing an application showcasing their contributions to STEM education. Each recipient will receive $1,500 for their classrooms—as well as another $1,500 for personal use.

Cundy and the other five recipients will also be recognized together at STEM Day at the Fair, held August 22, 2021. Usually held during STEM Day at the Capitol in February, the change was made with the health of teachers, their students and their families in mind. For more information about the award and all current and previous recipients, please visit https://iowastem.org/teacheraward.

Now Accepting Teachers and Workplace Hosts to Participate in the

Iowa STEM Teacher Externship Program

The Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program aims to help teachers answer that age-old question, "When am I ever going to need to use this?"

During the summer, educators work side-by-side with knowledgeable and skilled industry employees who help bring the classroom curriculum to life. Teacher Externships provide educators with the exposure to answer questions about real-world application, prepare students for careers they may have in the future, and improve educational experiences.

Teacher Externships began in the summer of 2009 with a few goals in mind:

Create lasting partnerships between workplaces and local schools.
Connect Teacher Extern experience with STEM content and 21st century skills identified in the Iowa Core.
Give students real-world career information about career possibilities right here in Iowa.
Give teachers the opportunity to see and use the latest real-world applications STEM disciplines in a local business or industry.

Teacher Externships are full-time, six-week temporary summer positions in local businesses and agencies for secondary teachers of mathematics, science and/or technology. Teachers earn a stipend of up to $5,000 (including two paid professional development days), as well as three graduate credits through the University of Northern Iowa’s Continuing Education program.

Learn more about Teacher Externships by reading the Extern Project-Based Learning, FAQ or Brochure.

STEM Day at the Capitol

Iowa STEM Council representatives updated Iowa lawmakers on the important of STEM investments at the Annual STEM Day at the Capitol. The STEM Council talked with legislators from both sides of the aisle, sharing the efforts in each region.

Although the 2021 STEM Day at the Capitol looked significantly different due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the STEM Council network team was able to tell the story of the growing partnerships between the STEM Council and entities across all sectors of Iowa, including the program providers the for STEM Scale-Up Program, STEM BEST Program, STEM Seal of Approval, Iowa STEM Network Hub Institutions, youth agencies, nonprofits and more.

Prerecorded videos from Governor Kim Reynolds emphasized the continued bipartisan support from the Iowa Legislature and honored IOWA STEM Teacher award winners from each of the six STEM regions.

Mega Board Meeting of STEM Advisory Boards

The Iowa Governor's STEM Council held their Regional STEM Advisory Boards Mega Meeting on Friday, February 4, 2021. This virtual event, including board members from each of the 6 STEM Regions, regional managers, and Central Operations team.

The goal of the event was to share best practices across the different STEM regions and to engage in conversations about future priorities and activities. Throughout the morning, board members brainstormed ideas, collaborated, and made suggestions relating to the Iowa STEM Council's signature programs:

STEM Scale-Up Program - proposed developing more video resources to promote Scale-Up programs to Iowa educators;
STEM BEST Program - developed ways to increase program impact in rural communities;
STEM Festivals - develope opportunities for parents/guardians to engage in activities at home after festivals;
STEM Equity - recognition of the need to recruit more diverse individuals to serve on the regional STEM boards;
STEM Program Data - discussed the need to make data more accessible to all constituents;
STEM Teacher Externships - brainstormed ways to increase participation of teachers across grade levels and content areas.

NW STEM Challenge Cards

Are you looking for ideas to keep kids busy at home? Want to challenge your children to explore and create? Check out these challenge cards! Learn how to create balloon speakers, go fishing for ice cubes, or create a straw rocket! There are many activities to explore!

Fill out this form to receive access to NW STEM Challenge Cards. These are challenge cards for students in grades PS-8 grade. Materials needed for these challenges are household items. Upon submission of this form, you will receive access to a Google Folder that houses the challenge cards.

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

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 them 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/.