STEM BEST® Program model Ankeny Orbis spoke with school board members and administrators at the IASB Convention.

Growing STEM BEST ® Community Invites New Partners

The STEM BEST® Program continues to demonstrate momentum through growth and impact of the program in school districts across Iowa. Of 63 total STEM BEST® Program awards, there are a total of 58 models involving 83 school districts and more than 5,000 students that formed more than 1,300 workplace partnerships from 2014 to 2019.

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STEM BEST® Program model Ankeny Orbis spoke with school board members and administrators at the IASB Convention.

Growing STEM BEST ® Community Invites New Partners

The STEM BEST® Program continues to demonstrate momentum through growth and impact of the program in school districts across Iowa. Of 63 total STEM BEST® Program awards, there are a total of 58 models involving 83 school districts and more than 5,000 students that formed more than 1,300 workplace partnerships from 2014 to 2019.

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Bob Grant, a mathematics teacher at Storm Lake High School, completed a STEM Teacher Externship in 2019

Workplace Hosts Needed for Expanding Externships Program

Planning for the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program is gearing up for Summer 2020. Each summer, educators are matched with business hosts where they learn about career opportunities that use the skills students are learning in the classroom while addressing needs of local workplaces.

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Students at Kingsley-Pierson Elementary take part in the Computer Science is Elementary project

Compute to Compete: 12 Elementary Schools Blaze a Trail

Planning and implementation are well under way for 12 awarded Computer Science is Elementary schools, a joint project of the Iowa Department of Education and the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. For Kingsley-Pierson Elementary, students are already building confidence in computer science after only a couple months of implementing computer science into the elementary curriculum.

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John Glenn Elementary Makerspace made possible through STEM Council Scale-Up Program

Scale-Up Starts a STEM Buzz at School

When John Glenn Elementary fourth grade teacher Jarrett Bertog applied for the STEM Scale-Up Program Making STEM Connections provided by the Science Center of Iowa, he was looking for ways to incorporate hands-on STEM learning into his classroom curriculum. He hadn’t imagined that it would turn into a school-wide makerspace. 

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STEM BEST Program

Collaboration Between Schools and Businesses Grow

Iowa’s STEM imperative continues to grow with the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council welcoming 13 new models to the STEM BEST (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) Program, which brings the total to 63 since the STEM BEST Progr
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Differentiated Math Centers is one of three mathematics Scale-Up Programs awarded to educators for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Council Helps Make Mathematics a Magnet to STEM

The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council sought out top mathematics education programs last summer and selected three to help support educators in making mathematics a magnet to STEM study and careers. The programs are now being delivered to nearly 700 Iowa educators for the 2019-2020 academic year.
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Iowa STEM Hub Institution map

Spotlight on Regional STEM Hub Institutions

Leaders from each of Iowa’s six Regional STEM Hub institutions were recently convened for the first time in the STEM Council’s history by the Council’s operations team, hosted at Drake University. Topics of conversation included an assessment of processes and progress, mechanics of the partnership, goal-setting and best practices sharing.
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Youth participates in hands-on activity at STEM Day at the Fair

STEM and the Arts

A STEM Council working group was established years ago to pave the way for enriched integration of Arts and STEM and provide enhanced learning experiences and economic opportunities for Iowans.
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Scores of Iowa students compared to students nationwide

Mathematics as a Magnet to STEM

America’s Strategy for STEM Education maps out the Federal Government’s five-year plan for STEM education to help position the United States as a global leader in STEM literacy, innovation and employment.

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Ashley Mitchell completed an Externship with the Iowa National Guard

Employers, Now is the Time to Plan for 2020 STEM Teacher Externship

Work-based learning offers valuable experience for today’s students to gain knowledge and training for future workforce opportunities. For teachers too, the STEM Teacher Externship Program helps connect classrooms to careers through the immersion of STEM educators in workplace settings for six weeks in the summer.

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