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Learning from Our 2020 Challenge Grantees

Apr 22, 2021

Last October, we announced $30,000 in funding for new programs to expand high-quality STEM education. Through the 2020 STEMx Challenge Grants, leading organizations in three states invested in growing new, promising practices.


Today, they share what they learned. Brief summaries of all three grantees and their reports are included below.

2020 STEMx Challenge Grant Reports

Project plan: Idaho STEM Action Center will collaborate with Idaho STEM lending library network to expand the regional STEM lending libraries throughout the state. These lending libraries will house critical hands-on learning resources like such as Ozobots, 3D printers, and drones. The STEMx funding leverages previous grants by other organizations that expanded library inventory and created standards-aligned, instructional videos/curriculum for Idaho educators. Under the STEMx Challenge Grant, the Idaho STEM Action Center will launch a new online cataloging system and awareness campaign. These efforts will dramatically expand access to high-quality STEM experiences for local learners.

idaho stem logo

Project plan: Under a previous award, the Indiana STEM Ecosystem developed a series digital tools to advance STEM learning. These include a statewide digital asset mapping tool and an Indiana STEM needs assessment.

This year, the organization will refine and test these tools and provide five virtual convenings/training sessions. In total, these efforts will grow the capacity and effectiveness of Indiana STEM educators, laying the groundwork for student success. 

indiana stem ecosystem logo

Project plan: With support from the North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center, the regional STEM East Network will launch a museums@home program. Students in the program will connect with regional museums having specific areas of expertise such as the Aurora Fossil Museum and Sylvan Heights Bird Park. Each museums@home implementation includes: 1) a pre-activity live museum/classroom chat, 2) a student-managed STEM classroom activity, 3) a post-activity museum/classroom follow-up and 4) a virtual Family STEM Night session to celebrate and share the student activities. 

stem east logo

Celebrating the 2023 STEM Innovation Forum

By Rob Evans • 01 Nov, 2023
by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .

STEM Innovation Forum: Agenda and New Sponsors

By Rob Evans • 03 Oct, 2023
Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce
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