On Monday, March 12, 2012, Columbia State Community College, in collaboration with the Marshall County Board of Education and the Women In STEM Center at MTSU (GRITS Collaborative Project), will host a forum at its Lewisburg Campus. The forum is being provided for the middle and high school science and math teachers from Marshall County with the goal to provide lessons learned, best practices, and project based activities that can be used by the teachers in educating and preparing young students for STEM-related fields. The program will include the professionals Dr. Tom D'Apolito - Tennessee Department of Education, Ray Fox - T3 educator with Texas Instruments, and Terri Schoof - a teacher from Brentwood Middle School. Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, a professor of chemistry at MTSU and a regional and national leader on STEM education particularly for females, will present a keynote message on the status of STEM in Tennessee and an update on females in STEM. The professionals will present projects that the teachers will actively develop and perform during the forum so that the activities can be finalized during the summer and hopefully used in classroom settings during the fall of 2012. Register for the GRITS Forum at http://www.ngcproject.org/events/events.cfm?eventid=244&del=6241 

Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross will serve as the keynote speaker for the GRITS Strategic Planning Forum held on March 16th at 6:00 p.m. in the McGuffin-Jolley Natural Science Building room 121 on the Walters State Community College Morristown campus. Dr. Iriarte-Gross is the lead of the GRITS Collaborative Project and the Director of the Women In STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Center on the MTSU campus. The GRITS Collaborative Project helps raise awareness in STEM fields and pique girls' interests to pursue a career in STEM. The GRITS Forum is open to girl-serving organizations, educators, community and business leaders, and others from across Tennessee. The Forum will include a presentation and discussion led by Dr. Iriarte-Gross, details on how to apply for and have a successful delivery of a GRITS mini-grant by Dr. Lisa Eccles, and an opportunity to experience hands-on laboratory activities applicable to the classroom setting. Professional development hours will be available. Please contact Dr. Lisa Eccles via email at lisa.eccles@ws.edu or at 423-318-2768 with any questions. Register for the GRITS Forum at http://www.ngcproject.org/events/events.cfm?eventid=245