Volume 01| Issue 06 | January 31st, 2021
K-12 STEM Center's Monthly
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Team Newsletter
Happy New Year!

The IDEA team wishes that you all had a restful winter break and an easy return back to work during the month of January.

Our team had a delayed return to the office due to the trends of the omicron variant, but we are back in person and ready to resume our school year programs and prepare for our summer programs.

We are also excited to share that our Diversity Commitment website has been updated! Please head over to: https://viterbik12.usc.edu/about/diversity-commitment/ and check out the IDEA team's new online home. There, you can read past newsletters and learn why the Center values inclusivity, diversity, equity, and access.

As always, I encourage everyone who receives this newsletter to share it with anyone they believe would benefit from the information we share here.

Fight on!

Anne Areta
Program Coordinator for African American Students - aareta@usc.edu
Project Reviews and Future Plans
SHINE - Share with High School Students!
USC Viterbi's Summer High School Intensive in Next-Generation Engineering (SHINE) Program has hosted its first two Information Sessions for SHINE 2022; but if you missed them, no worries! Monica Lopez is hosting another session on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, from 5:30 PM-6:30 PM where she will give an overview of SHINE and the projects SHINE has available this summer in various fields of engineering research. 

You can RSVP for February's session here!

If your future SHINE applicant has questions about the application, you can also meet with Monica during her office hours for free application support. Click here to learn more information and to reserve your time with Monica.

We encourage Los Angeles County residents to apply by March 1st! As mentioned above, Monica has drop-in hours to help students apply to SHINE to demystify​ the process. 

Please click on the image of the flyer to enlarge it.
SUMMER PROGRAM APPLICATIONS - LIVE!
If you have students who are not high school-aged or perhaps not ready for a 7-week intensive like SHINE, please have students apply to our other summer programs!

This year we will be offering:
  • Elementary School
  • Energy of STEM (rising 4th and 5th graders)
  • Middle School
  • Northrop Grumann Summer Engineering Camp
  • Project Payload (rising 6th, 7th, 8th-grade girls)
  • High School
  • Discover Engineering
  • Energy of STEM

For more information about each of the programs listed above, please visit: https://viterbik12.usc.edu/programs/summer/
February 22nd, 2022 - Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) + Parent Info Session
We would like to give special thanks to LADPW for partnering with the K-12 STEM Center and sponsoring our Virtual Parent Workshops Series.

The first virtual workshop we hosted was November 9, 2021, and we focused on advocacy and empowerment. The goal of the first workshop was to encourage parents and guadians to feel more confident in themselves to participate in STEM programs even if they themselves do not come from a STEM background.

We also wanted families who participated in our workshop to learn how to support their child/children who are interested in pursuing STEM. We provided tips and tools on how to interact with schools or teachers in the classroom when it comes to discussing STEM, and how they are best able to assist and endorse their kid/s who want to engage with STEM programs.

We have two more sessions lined up in 2022, our first of the new year being on February 22nd, 2022. We will be giving advice to families on how to help their students succeed in STEM.

Click on the image of the flyer to enlarge it and RSVP for next month's parent information session!
Mission Science - Fall Semester Data
Fall semester data indicated that our Mission Science 3rd-5th grade participants were almost equal in gender demographics in the classroom(51% Female 49% Male), which was across our 7 local Good Neighbors Grant Elementary schools.

This year our team was more intentional about creating inclusive promotional materials for the program as well as creating a Spanish translation for enrollment forms, flyers, and the website as a whole. Ultimately, these extra efforts helped increase diversity and overall recruitment in terms of being more equitable in order to create a sense of belonging for all students.

To learn more about what Mission Science does throughout the school year, click here.
Suggested Reading for the Month
Black, Brown, Bruised: Looking at racialized STEM education, February 18

How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation
Dr. Ebony Omotola McGee, associate professor of diversity and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education at Vanderbilt University, will be presenting the talk “Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation” at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 18, via Zoom.


Read Illinois State University's full report for this event coming up here.
National Science Teaching Association

Thriving STEM Learning Ecosystems—for All?
This report makes the case that researchers and educators using the ecosystem model for learning contexts could significantly benefit from adapting the analytical and application approaches pioneered within the ecological sciences that have enabled the development of adaptive management strategies such as those used in ecosystem restoration and recovery efforts.

If you would like to read more about this article, please click here.
Lastly, we at the Center want to give special thanks to Betty Lou Gross, Fiserv and  James Carter Esquire, James Carter & Associates LLC for their support of the STEM Center's efforts to increase engagement and outreach of African American students.
USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center | University of Southern California | Website