July 2014
In This Issue
Scale-Ups Announced
Festivals!
Teacher Research
Teacher Externships
STEM Innovator
Summer Opportunities
Resources Galore

WELCOME 
New Board Member 
Adriana D'Onofrio
 
Adriana studied Communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  She has worked at Rockwell Collins for eight years in project management, engineering finance, and currently in community relations.  
 
Adriana is the point of contact for Rockwell Collins' education outreach programming; including FIRST programming, internships, Engineer's Week, career/stem fairs, Project Lead the Way programming, and more. 
Welcome Adriana!!
July 20-Aug 1 at UNI

  

July 21-25 at the Putnam Museum in Davenport

  

July 22-27 UI College of Engineering

  

July 20-August 1 UI College of Engineering

 

August 4 7:30-4:15 at the FFA Enrichment Center on the DMACC Ankeny Campus
 
August 6 - 7 at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center at Veterans Memorial - Des Moines
 
August 8 10:00 - 4:00 at the State Hygienic Lab Coralville

 

STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair
August 17 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds grand concourse

 

August 30 10:00-2:00 at Regina Education Center in Iowa City

 

EiE Scale-Up Professional Development
September 4  8:00-5:00 at the BioVentures Center in Coralville 
 
AWIM Scale-Up Professional Development
September 5 9:00-12:00 at the State Hygienic Lab in Coralville
 
Pint Size Science Scale-Up Professional Development
September 12 8:00 - 5:00 at the BioVentures Center in Coralville
 
FTC Scale-Up Professional Development 
September 20 8:00-5:00 at the BioVentures Center in Coralville

  

Last Friday of every month at the Iowa Children's Museum from 5:00 - 8:00

The Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council is a bipartisan collaboration of legislators, educators, businesses, students and families to increase STEM awareness and opportunities in Iowa.  To learn more about STEM programming going on in southeast Iowa, visit us at http://se.iowastem.org. 
 
Awarded Scale-Ups 2014-2015
 

With another great year of scale-up programming in the books, we are happy to announce that scale-ups have been awarded for the 2014-2015 school year.  Service providers from across the country competed to bring their programs to Iowa with the following programs being selected: A World In Motion, CASE, Defined STEM, Engineering is Elementary, FIRST Tech Challenge, HyperStream/VREP, KindWind, Pint Size Science, Project Lead the Way: Gateway and Project Lead the Way: Engineering.

 

This year we received twice as many applications as previous years and view that as a testament to the great selection of programs and the impact educators are seeing in their classrooms.  Professional development for schools awarded scale-up programming have begun and will continue into the fall.

 

Did you miss out on scale-ups but want to get involved?  We are happy to announce that the hub has scale-up materials that can be checked out.  Check out the Resources section of the newsletter for more information.  To learn more about the impact scale-up programming is having on K-12 students, tune into the Iowa Governor and Lt. Governor's press conference July 28 at 9:00 highlighting the significant gains made through the STEM initiative.

Festival Recaps and Upcoming Events

We would like to thank every one involved in our spring festivals for making them a great success!  Your efforts helped to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics to life by assembling experienced scientists, engineers, teachers and education experts to provide an afternoon full  of hands-on activities to hundreds of interested students and community members. Summaries and highlights from some of the festivals held this spring can be found below. 

 

We are excited to continue this success with the Iowa City Fall Fun Festival on August 30th, 2014.  It will be held from 10 am to 2 pm at the Regina Catholic Education Center.  Activities on Saturday include the Fall Fun Festival Car Show, a STEM Discovery Zone, a trackless train, a Kids Craft Corner, a magician, the Football Players Auction, and music by the Kennedy Brothers to enjoy.Click here for more information. 

 


Spring 2014 Festival Recaps

 

This spring, the Southeast region partnered with many local schools, businesses and community organizations to host multiple STEM festivals impacting over 3,000 students and families.  The events included the Southeast STEM Festival at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, Modern Marvels 2.0 in Iowa City, the Muscatine STEM Festival, the Cedar Rapids STEM Festival and numerous other events through our mini-grant program.

 

Through these experiences, students were able to see all of the exciting opportunities in STEM through hands-on exhibits such as 3D printing, DNA extraction, robotics, the physics of Angry Birds, and manufacturing simulations and businesses and community organizations were able to highlight their focus on STEM and connect to young minds.   Click here for pictures of some of the events.

 

Research Opportunity helps SE Iowa Teachers Grow

We would like to congratulate four teachers from the Southeast Region on being accepted into 2014 summer professional development programs at Iowa State University:

Matthew Cain, West Branch HS
Megan Washburn, Prairie Point Middle School
Penny Jones, Van Buren Community Schools 
Rebecca Steinlage, Benton Community High School   
 
This program provides teachers the opportunity to participate in a three-week professional development workshop to study the methods of biomass utilization to produce biorenewable products, including biofuels and bio-materials. Teachers are introduced to cutting-edge research underway at ISU to address the global challenges facing society's dependence on finite sources of fossil-based energy. The three weeks will include presentations by ISU faculty and staff, hands-on lab activities, and field trips to Iowa's biorenewables-related research facilities and bio-based industries.  Teachers will then collaborate and develop classroom material to present to their students about biorenewables and associated careers.
 
 
Teacher Externships 2014
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The Real World Externship for Teachers of Mathematics, Science and Technology is a program aimed at providing teachers with the opportunity to gain real-world experience in local industries and businesses.  This year, the Governor's STEM Advisory Council intends to expand in order to meet demand for this professional development program for teachers. 
 
Teachers from across the region attended orientation June 13th at the BioVentures Center in Coralville to learn about how to bring their externship experience to the classroom.  In the Southeast Region alone, 11 teachers representing the following districts are participating: Cedar Rapids, West Branch, Fairfield, West Liberty, New London, Davenport, Pleasant Valley, and Mediapolis.
 
 
 
"Overall, I think that the Real World Externship is a great program and I would definitely consider doing it again, as well as recommend it to colleagues.  The professional development is world class and the experiences are not something you can get from sitting in a meeting, by doing, I gain the experience necessary to apply and give credibility to my students." -Greg Smith, John Deere   
 
"Just seeing all the teamwork used in getting things done at John Deere is something I can relate to my students.  Also, to see how everyone uses technology on a daily basis and the problem solving skills needed by employees is very noticeable. So far this experience had been wonderful.  I've been learning something new each day, meeting a lot of nice people, and doing some viable work for John Deere." -Jeff Manders, John Deere 
 
 
This valuable experience for teachers would not be possible without the commitment from business partners throughout the region.  Thank you to the great businesses that are hosting our teachers this summer: 
  • Des Moines County Conservation
  • International Automotive Components
  • Iowa Geologic & Water Survey
  • John Deere
  • Siemans Energy
  • State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District 
STEM Innovator
Infusing Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the K-12 Classroom

July 14-17 the Jacobson Center for Youth Entrepreneurship and the College of Education at the University of Iowa partnered to host an institute geared toward a community-driven, problem-based, interdisciplinary approach to STEM entrepreneurship.  Over 170 teachers from across the state applied for this elite program with 16 district teams representing all areas of the state being selected.

The Southeast Region was represented by Bettendorf HS, Cedar Rapids Roosevelt MS, Davenport Central HS, Davenport West HS, East Campus Alternative Muscatine HS, Iowa City Southeast Junior High, Pekin HS, and Williamsburg HS.  Teachers were led by Leslie Flynn, UI Professor in Science Education, and Dawn Bowlus, Director of the Jacobson Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship, to identify ways to increase innovation and entrepreneurship in their classrooms.  They collaborated across districts, pitched ideas, developed partnerships, and continuously gathered feedback they can take back to their districts.

The leadership shown by these teachers is truly a testament to the great things going on in Iowa classrooms, and we look forward to working with these teachers and their students throughout the school year.
Summer and Beyond Opportunities


6th Annual QCESC Engineering Kids Camp July 21-25

 
Registration for students and volunteers will continue to be accepted as long as there is space available.

The 6th annual QCESC Engineering Kids Camp will be held on July 21 - July 25, 2014 at the Putnam Museum in Davenport. The camp is a collaboration between the non-profit Quad City Engineering and Science Council, the Putnam Museum and the Iowa State University College of Engineering who design and lead the camp. Each one day camp will include three, fun educational hand-on activities including LEGO robotics with challenges for various student experience levels with the students learning side by side with local engineering & STEM Professionals. The camp includes the 3D big screen movie Mysteries of the Unseen World along with a camp t-shirt and lunch. This year the camp will leverage the Putnam's new STEM Learning Center including the brand new, FabLab.

Schedule for Individual One Day Camps: 
Monday, July 21 - students going into grades 4-6th (Sold Out)
Tuesday, July 22 - students going into grades 4-6th (Sold Out)
Wednesday, July 23 - students going into grades 2-3rd (Sold Out) 
Thursday, July 24 - students going into 4-8th grade (girls only) 
Friday, July 25 - students going into grades 7-8 
Link for further information including registering students and volunteering

Iowa Learning Online (ILO) needs your help.

 

ILO offers a way for High School students to have access to online courses for no enrollment fees.  Students who use ILO courses need alternative learning avenues for various reasons.  The most sought after courses are currently upper level science classes.  The Iowa Legislation deemed the ILO courses the model for online learning in Iowa, and funded a full scale-up of our courses.

 

Taking an ILO class (science, math, art etc) requires a great deal of collaboration and complex communication.  As part of the iconic online science courses, ILO offers two days of actual face to face laboratory investigations.  Since high school students across Iowa are served, this translates into some 30+ face to face labs that ILO brings to the students based on their geography.  Currently, over 100 schools across Iowa participate, and ILO anticipates this growing quickly as the scale-up launches this Fall.

 

ILO needs help finding highly qualified individuals interested in becoming part-time Regional Lab Facilitators.  They would be mentored at first, and take over the labs solo at some point.  This task requires someone willing to travel to where the students need them to go, valid Iowa teaching licensure with sciences endorsement(s) (mainly Chemistry, Physics, Biology), and someone ready and willing to conduct labs through the practices of science, not cook book.

 

To get involved, contact  Jonnie Becker  at  [email protected]

Resources Galore!
A collection of resources for STEM educators, businesses, and community members
 
Looking to Connect With Students? 
The United Way of the Quad Cities Area has launched a new website that lists open volunteer positions at schools and other educational programs.  Visit  their site today to connect to opportunities near you.  If you're interested in submitting an education-related project or if you have questions about volunteering, contact Amy Daniels at [email protected]


Check-out Scale-Up Curriculum 
A World in Motion activity kits are now available for checkout! These activity kits are aimed for primary and elementary students and are benchmarked to national standards. 

 

Materials may be checked out for 6 weeks. They can be picked up and returned at W211 BioVentures Center, 2500 Crosspark Rd Coralville, IA 52241.  Please replace any consumables you use. 

 

You can check out a kit or find more information here: 
 
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Sincerely,
 
Kristine Bullock
SE Iowa STEM Manager 
[email protected]