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Webinar: Two states, two new models for rural STEM

Nov 01, 2017

November 15, 2017: 4-5 p.m. (EST)  Register

A recent survey by the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network reported more than half (53%) of rural educators didn’t know of resources to help them teach STEM. To close that knowledge gap and build new solutions, the network launched the Tennessee Rural STEM Collaborative this fall.

Sixteen hundred miles away in Idaho, the STEM education team at Idaho National Labs has tackled the rural STEM engagement issue with a new strategy focused deeply on teachers and families. Growing STEM talent is a critical need at the lab, where up to 30% of the workforce will retire in the next five years. Join us on November 15 to hear from Anne Seifert, Idaho National Lab’s K-12 Education manager and Brandi Stroecker and Evan Curran at the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, managed by Battelle.

Panelists

Evan Curran is the MakerMinded Program Manager for the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, managed by Battelle. He facilitates opportunities for hands-on learning across the state. Prior to joining the team at Battelle, Evan taught through Teach For America. One of his struggling students got so personally invested that she won second place, and awarding her a medal was the highlight of Evan’s teaching career. Evan has a Masters of Education from Lipscomb University and a BS in Public Policy and Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University.
As past Executive Director of i-STEM, Anne Seifert led a collaborative effort with government, higher education institutions, educators, and industry. The work of i-STEM was research-driven with success factors built in – making the trainings and resources provided useful for teachers. Anne is the K-12 STEM Program Manager at Idaho National Laboratory and works closely with the Idaho STEM Action Center as they currently lead the i-STEM program in Idaho. Anne served in schools for 27 years as a teacher and principal before joining Idaho National Labs. She holds a BS from the University of Idaho and Masters, EDS and ABD PhD from Idaho State University.
Brandi Stroecker is a STEM Relationship Manager with Battelle at the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network. A veteran educator, she has spent over a decade teaching 6-12th grade Science and STEM in high poverty, urban schools. In 2012, the Tennessee Science Teachers Association honored her work with an Excellence in High School Science Teaching Award. Brandi holds a BS from the University of Memphis, a Masters in K-12 Education from the University of Tennessee, and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Christian Brothers University.

Register to attend

Register with Webex  here.

About these webinars

Every month, we organize an opportunity for STEM organizations to learn from each other. Past webinars have covered STEM school design, teacher training, and engaging industry in STEM partnerships. This service is offered thanks to your state’s membership in the national STEMx network.

STEMx members are encouraged to forward this invitation to others in their state who would find the information useful.

You can sign up to hear about our webinars along with our weekly blog posts here:  www.stemx.us/sign-up

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 .
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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