June 2023

#BigBrainEnergy! With 10+ years of expertise in the area of Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, and more, you could say Dr. Joyonna Gamble-George knows a thing or two about the brain! Learn more this #BrainAwarenessMonth: https://bit.ly/3BMN3BP

On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free. Today, #Juneteenth celebrates African American resilience and achievement. Learn more about the historical legacy of this day: https://s.si.edu/3ohv17L

#PrideMonth is here! In June, we celebrate the amazing LGBTQ+ members of the #STEM community and beyond who are making a difference. @500QueerSci is an organization dedicated to raising the visibility of LBTQ+ scientists in their fields: https://500queerscientists.com/

June 23 is International Women in Engineering Day! Learn more about the important role #WomenInSTEM play & how to celebrate with youth: https://bit.ly/420IeQ2 #INWED23

Million Girls Moonshot - SciGirls, STEM Role Models & Messaging Workshop for Educators and Advocates

Monday, July 31, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Education Service Center Region 13, 5701 Springdale Rd, Austin, TX 78723

Presented by Texas Partnership for Out of School Time and Texas Girls Collaborative Project as part of the Million Girls Moonshot initiative in collaboration with The Region 13 Hub of the Texas EcosySTEM.

FREE for educators and out-of-school-time professionals or administrators. Space is limited.

Agenda Includes:

• Overview of Million Girls Moonshot resources and frameworks
• PBS SciGirls hands-on activities (including activities such as Take it in Stride, Parachute Parade, Bouncing Balloon, Cloud Clues, Dough Creatures, and Deep Sea Diver), strategies to engage girls in STEM, and resources
• Effective hands-on activity facilitation techniques to engage girls in STEM
• Strategies for effective engagement of STEM Role Models

Participants will engage in hands-on STEM learning, walk away with resources to lead TEKs-aligned hands-on STEM activities, get connected to an online educator community with 9 themed SciGirls activity facilitator guides (each with 5 or more hands-on STEM activities) and a bank of STEM role model videos and SciGirls episodes, and more! All participants will receive a goodie bag full of resources. The desired workshop outcomes are that participants immerse themselves in the content, learn new strategies to engage girls in STEM, get excited to share the resources and learnings with others, and go out and educate other educators so that the materials are disseminated widely.

Educators can earn 7 hours of CPE credits for participating in the workshop.

Register at https://utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1Ypxc89BkfcNEV0.

Learn to be an Ally to Girls and Women in STEM

June 6, 2023, 2:30 PM Central Time

Research shows that men have a key role to play in the advancement of women in STEM. Join us to learn strategies and resources (including the Male Allies Toolkit from NCWIT) that male parents, educators, and professionals can use to become effective allies to girls and women pursuing STEM.

Science Near Me

Science Near Me is a free resource to help you quickly find opportunities to engage in all types of science, technology, engineering, math, (STEM) events, projects, and programs near you, in person and online.

Connected Girls is a free, curated directory of STEAM opportunities designed for girls or other groups that have been historically excluded that is managed in partnership with Science Near Me. On either platform, search by location, topic, audience, and more to find STEAM opportunities and events for students, educators, families, and more.

STEM Starts

The University of Texas at Austin has launched a new website to support educators, students and families in accessing pre-K–12 STEM programs from all across the university. Search for programs and events by grade, subject, and more.

STEM Camps Across Texas

TxGCP maintains a listing of STEM Camps across Texas. If you have a regularly occurring STEM Camp to share, send information to STEM@txgcp.org.

Changing Expectations Black Girls in AI Coding Makerspace

$500 Stipend

Black Females, Grades 8 - 12, and HT University Comp Science

June and July (Virtual) and August 5, 12, 19, and 26, 2023 (In-Person)

10 am – 4 pm at the Carver Museum, Austin, Texas

Designing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Voice Chatbots for Social Justice

Addressing Anti-Black Police Violence and Brutality

Learn more and apply online

Drones in the Classroom Summer PD

Date:  June 26-June 29, 2023

Where: SMU Campus, Dallas TX: https://www.smu.edu/AboutSMU/Maps

Time:  9:00 AM to 4:00 PM CDT each day

Cost:   Full Week registration is $500! Or $1,500 with drone.

Registration: Registration Page CLICK HERE

Contact: Please contact Dr. Kenneth Berry at kenberry0408@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Drone: You can bring your own, or purchase one with registration. Stock requirement is a PixHawk or compatible flight controller. 400 to 600 mm diagonally, GPS, camera.

*Travel, food, and lodging not included. 30 hours of continuing education Credit.  

We are partnering again with The National Center for Autonomous Technology (NCAT). NCAT is offering scholarships for this training. If you would like to apply for the scholarships please apply HERE.

"First Woman" 

"First Woman" tells the tale of Callie Rodriguez, the first woman to explore the Moon. While Callie is a fictional character, the first female astronaut and person of color will soon set foot on the Moon – a historic milestone and part of upcoming NASA Artemis missions. Through a series of graphic novels and digital platforms, "First Woman" aims to captivate audiences and inspire the next generation of explorers who will return to the Moon. The accompanying "First Woman" Camp Experience Guide and hands-on activities brings the excitement of NASA’s science and technology, intended for use in K–12 informal education settings such as after-school programs, summer camps, STEM nights, and weekend workshops.

June is #PrideMonth! Check out these resources for celebrating #PrideinSTEM: https://bit.ly/426SNkY 

This #PrideMonth, celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in #STEM - check out these resources from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library: https://bit.ly/3MLtUXk 

Until June 21, we’re still in spring! Check out these 26 science experiments for spring you can use in your youth programs: https://bit.ly/3UON2WO #STEMActivities

“Let’s be scientists!” and “Are we ready to be engineers?” are common phrases heard in preschool and early elementary classrooms exploring #STEM projects and activities. Learn 3 ways early educators can shift how they talk about science: https://bit.ly/3OvsBNu 

June 23 is International Women in Engineering Day! Learn more about the important role #WomenInSTEM play & how to celebrate with youth: https://bit.ly/420IeQ2 #INWED23

Looking for #STEAM books for 1st-3rd graders? Check out this great list from Room to Read that highlights related career paths: https://www.roomtoread.org/steam 

“Pacific Islanders exist in math, Indigenous Peoples in mathematics exist! For me, knowing that these people are out there is essential to my persistence in my career.” From One, To Many, For All: Building a Community for #IndigenousMathematicians https://bit.ly/3WnHK5B 

June is National Zoo and Aquarium Month! @zoos_aquariums provides educator resources that you can use in your programs to help understand wildlife & conservation: https://bit.ly/3OwxndD 

Brokering Youth Pathways: A #Toolkit for Connecting Youth to Future Opportunity shares ways in which various out-of-school educators and professionals have approached the challenge of brokering. Check it out: https://bit.ly/3KwOslM

Join our K-12 STEM Outreach Google Groups!

These email groups (open and moderated listservs) are all about sharing resources, information, events, volunteers, needs, and more with others reaching out to K-12 students aiming to excite them about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Central TX | DFW | East Texas | El Paso | Houston | 

Laredo | RGV | San Antonio | Waco | West TX

For those not in one of these areas who still want to receive information going out to all groups, join the Texas K-12 STEM Outreach group. Contact TxGCP for any specific regional requests or questions.

Find STEM Volunteers for Your Program in Givepulse or FabFems

TxGCP is using the Givepulse platform to foster meaningful STEM volunteer connections. We are making it easy for STEM professionals to connect with K-20 educators, classrooms, out-of-school time programs, and other volunteer opportunities. Professionals can share their skills and expertise to bring real-world, authentic learning opportunities to all our students helping to create the next generation of innovators. Learn how to find STEM volunteers in your region and across the country on the TxGCP website.

Looking for someone to ask questions about a field you're interested in? Hoping to get some female STEM role models to join a career day at a school? The FabFems role model database is the perfect place to find women in STEM who are passionate about acting as role models. Search the database by zip code, field of interest, and more!