Iowa STEM leaders attend White House discussion on education issues

National education conversation echoes Iowa STEM

Twice in December, Iowa STEM leaders were invited to the White House to discuss hot-button education issues, and in both instances, gave as much as they got. On December 8, U.S.

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Executive Director Dr. Jeff Weld facilitates 14th meeting of the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council

Iowa STEM Council Meeting XIV

With four years and 14 meetings since the first-ever gathering of the STEM Council in September 2011, members returned to the Science Center of Iowa earlier this month to reflect on progress and chart the course ahead.

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103 Iowa STEM advocates attend the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council

STEM Council Meeting XIII focuses on how to sustain Iowa STEM foundation

Two heads are better than one—or rather in this instance—103 heads. The STEM Council convened for the 13th meeting alongside invited regional STEM advisory board members and other stakeholders to develop new ideas on advancing and sustaining the state’s STEM effort.

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Iowa State Representative Dave Jacoby speaks to STEM leaders

Together = Better: Midwest STEM leaders compare notes

Iowa’s third annual convening of neighboring state STEM leaders and partners was a charm. Twenty-five champions representing Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Utah (honorary Midwesterners!), alongside Iowa with partners from ACT®, John Deere, Rockwell Collins and Vermeer flipped open their playbooks.

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STEM Day at the Iowa State fair

“Nothing Compares” to STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair

Some people come for the butter cow. Some people come for the carnival rides. Yet, on the last day of the Iowa State Fair, thousands of people took a detour from the regular attractions to take part in a family-fun STEM experience on the Grand Concourse.

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Governor Kim Reynolds speaks to Teacher Externs

Teacher Externs to bring the world of work back to classrooms this fall

For teachers, there is no better way to kick off the school year than with a new lesson plan in hand completely inspired by a summer spent chin-deep in the world of business and industry.

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Student panelists discuss STEM effort at the 12th STEM Council

STEM Council draws FY2015 to close, kicks of FY2016 with flare

The 12th meeting of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council began with closing the books on end-of-fiscal-year business to begin anew for the innovative and exciting developments to come in the year ahead for STEM in Iowa.

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STEM Council Executive Committe Member Rob Denson speaks in Ankeny

BEST practices in business-education partnerships paid forward

No more “take a seat” or “open your textbooks.” Instead, “get to work” is what students can look forward to when they enter STEM BEST (Business Engaging Students and Teachers) classrooms popping up across Iowa thanks to partnerships driven by the STEM Council. Strategies for success in bridging the business-education chasm were aplenty at the first-of-its-kind STEM BEST event this month.

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New look for IowaSTEM.gov

Long a workhorse for the STEM Council, though nothing of a show horse, the venerable, albeit clunky, IowaSTEM.gov website received a makeover.

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The Cedar Valley Family STEM Festival in Waterloo

Regional STEM festivals sweep the state

Regional STEM managers and their regional advisory boards are hard at work, uniting schools, businesses, nonprofits, higher education institutions, out-of-school educators and entire communities in bringing family STEM festivals to towns and cities across Iowa.

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