Letter from Executive Director
Dear Iowa STEM Community,
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Thirteen STEM Programs Selected to Scale in Iowa
Educator applications have opened for the STEM Scale-Up Program which provides access to exemplary STEM educational opportunities for students throughout the state. These programs are some of the top in the nation and offer a diverse range of STEM activities to nearly 100,000 students each year. The application period closes on February 28, 2023, at 6 p.m.
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Thirty-Seven School Districts to Join STEM BEST Community
Thirty-seven Iowa school districts will join or expand offerings in the STEM BEST® (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) Program to provide students with real workplace experiences. Since STEM BEST launched in 2014, 155 partnerships have been created or expanded to help introduce students to businesses and career opportunities in Iowa, while also gaining high-demand skills.
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Teacher Externships Connect Classroom Learning to Careers
Iowa's educators have considerable influence in equipping tomorrow's workforce with
The 2023 STEM Gem of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council
Each year, an Iowan of distinction in STEM is selected to be featured on a classroom poster distributed to thousands of teachers across the state. Career-linked learning helps students connect the dots between skills learned in the classroom and real-world application. Dr.
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Making STEM Class Matter by Tying to World of Work
Work-Based Learning (WBL), a phrase coined by the U.S. Department of Labor for career-technical education, is fast becoming mainstreamed into Iowa’s STEM classes as Career-Linked Learning (CLL). And for good reason: WBL, or CLL, is a potent instructional mode for contextualizing the learning of content and skills across subjects K through 12.
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Computer Science is for Everyone
STEM learning often begins early. Louis Moreno, an IT Support Analyst at Ruan and STEM Advisory Council member, recalls an interest in computer science from a young age, beginning with a curiosity of how his video games worked. In high school, he had more opportunities in the computer science field, including a Registered Apprenticeship in information technology (IT).
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Two Programs Stamped with STEM Council Seal of Approval
The STEM Council aims to increase interest and achievement in STEM and prepare students for career paths in STEM fields. STEM experiences can happen almost anywhere. The STEM Council established a Seal of Approval to support and acknowledge programs and events unaffiliated with existing STEM Council programs that help achieve STEM Council goals.
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Passing the STEM Externships Leadership Torch
What began fourteen years ago with a few brave teachers crossing the threshold into businesses for summer immersion has blossomed into one of Iowa’s most effective educator-employer partnerships.
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Call for Employer-Hosts for Summer Teacher
Each summer, the STEM Council matches some of Iowa’s most talented STEM educators with Workplace Hosts and helps build partnerships that enhance the workplace and the community’s future workforce. The STEM Teacher Externships Program builds bridges between Iowa workplaces and schools by equipping teachers with work experiences directly connected to classroom content.
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