As part of our ongoing work to create more localized opportunities for young people to get excited about STEM, the SE MA Network is organizing a series of regional meetings. A meeting scheduled in Westport on February 11 was cancelled due to snow but will be rescheduled. You can still plan to attend a regional meeting on Thursday, February 28, from 3:00 - 5:30 p.m. at Wamsutta Middle School, Attleboro. RSVP to Katherine Honey at khoney@comcast.net.

More than 50 people came to the January 29 gathering at the Canton Middle School. Attendees shared ideas on how to support the MA STEM goals, connected with potential partners, and learned about the exceptional STEM initiatives being developed in the Canton and Weymouth Public Schools. Attendees included parents, educators from the Abington, Braintree, Canton, Milton, Pembroke, Sharon, West Bridgewater and Weymouth Public Schools and representatives from Organogenesis, MA Association of Science Teachers, MA Afterschool Partnership. Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board, National Institutes of Health, MA STEM Pipeline, Museum of Science, Representative William Galvin's Office, Bridgewater State University, HarborOne, Etera Solutions, and Verizon. Keith Connors, program manager, STEM Pipeline Fund noted, "I could have listened to and spoken with these students all day!"

American middle and high schools are now eligible to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy's Laboratory Equipment Donation Program (LEDP). For over 30 years, this program has enabled colleges and universities to acquire hundreds of millions of dollars in high-quality surplus laboratory equipment from the department's national laboratories. The listing of free equipment available through LEDP is updated periodically as new equipment is identified. The Department of Energy invites schools to acquire equipment by reviewing the list and completing an electronic application at the LEDP website at http://www.osti.gov/ledp.