ISP addresses region's shortage of computer science teachers

You don’t need to be a great coder to teach computer science. You only need to be a great teacher. That is the experience of Jaime Gilligan of Washington University in St. Louis’ Institute for School Partnership (ISP). Through the Code.org professional learning program, Gilligan and other ISP instructional specialists are teaching local middle and […]

mySci's Arch Hour of Code Challenge

In 1933, St. Louis attorney Luther Elly Smith conceived of a monument honoring Thomas Jefferson and his vision for westward expansion. In 1947, a national design competition for a monument was launched. Architect Eero Saarinen’s stainless steel Arch was chosen the winner, and construction of the monument was completed in 1965. The  stainless steel Gateway Arch […]

Op-ed: Creating a STEM-strong St. Louis

STEM is all around us, from the complex to the simple. Take your smartphone, for example. This device wouldn’t be possible without the brainpower of engineers. Additionally, improved treatments and cures for diseases are possible because of scientists and medical professionals who have a deep understanding of the human body, but you can find STEM […]

Video: Taking STEM TQ lessons back to the classroom

It was with apprehension that Kelly Abraham sat down in July for her first day of STEMpact’s two-week STEM Teacher Quality (STEM TQ) Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. Of the 150 K-8 teachers taking part, she was the only fine arts teacher, and not really sure how much of it would be applicable. […]

Q&A: Recipient of top biology teaching honor has WashU connection

Chuck McWilliams, co-director of Washington University’s Master’s in Biology for Science Teachers Program, has been named the 2018 Missouri Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year by the National Association of Biology Teachers. The master’s program is offered through the university’s Institute for School Partnership and University College. For the past 24 years, McWilliams has been a teacher-leader in the […]

STEM TQ participants start popular STEM Facebook page

It’s often the case that teachers go to seminars and workshops and get really excited, but then life takes over and that energy fizzles out. That’s exactly what Lisa Graham, a K-4 special education teacher at Coverdell Elementary School in the City of St. Charles School District, and Jessica Lawrence, who teaches fourth-grade at Harris […]

Sign up for STEM Leadership workshops!

STEMpact’s Leadership Series is a series of workshops for school and district administrators, principals, coordinators, coaches, teachers, and leaders. Directed toward individuals and/or teams interested in bringing a stronger STEM mindset and intention to school and classroom practices. The leadership series focuses on: STEM best practices for classrooms and schools, resources and opportunities, strategies and successes […]

STEM TQ experience inspires teachers to create garden club

Like the nation’s former First Lady Michelle Obama, teachers at Barack Obama Elementary School are using gardening to teach students about health, math, and science. Working under the guidance of teachers and Monsanto volunteers, students at Obama Elementary recently took to the school grounds to prep planting beds for fall veggies and greens native to […]

ISP's mySci adds teacher leader certification program

The Institute for School Partnership is taking its mySci program to the next level, introducing a new initiative aimed at building teacher leaders in school districts. The mySci Leader Certification Program will train mySci teacher leaders to support their colleagues in implementing the innovative mySci science curriculum. “We think this can be transformational for the […]

S'mores + science = fun for visiting Chinese students

It’s the moment of reckoning exclaims an excited Kathleen Dwyer as she hands two Chinese youths the makings for s’mores. Turning the treat over in their fingers, the boys eye the dessert with some suspicion. “Ready?” asks Dwyer, a chemistry teacher at Maplewood–Richmond Heights High School. “Try it. It’s beautiful,” she says. Slowly the boys bring […]