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. […]
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 […]
To help fill a pipeline of future scientists and engineers, many teachers in the St. Louis area are “stemitizing” — integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts into all school subjects. One such effort, STEMpact’s Teacher Quality program, trains 150 kindergarten through eighth-grade teachers on how to incorporate the concepts into their curriculum in hopes […]
Michelle Harrison was scared. She has a fear of touching dead things. And now she was tasked with dissecting a pig heart. But instead of dodging the assignment, Harrison faced her fear, grabbed the scalpel and went to work. “It was eye-opening and I’m so glad I did it,” said Harrison, a sixth-grade teacher at […]
It’s midday at the Missouri State Capitol and the pizza line snakes around the third floor rotunda. A sure sign that it’s not business as usual in Jefferson City. March 2 was STEM Day at the Capitol which drew nearly 50 exhibitors and many more students and educators. A smiling Elizabeth Petersen mans the STEMpact […]
This past summer nearly 160 educators from 13 school districts and two charter schools kicked off a yearlong professional development program called STEM Teacher Quality Initiative (STEM TQ). Launched in 2011, STEM TQ has graduated some 500 teachers. The regional community effort aims to develop exemplary teachers who can provide quality learning in STEM, so […]
The Boeing Company has long understood the importance of improving STEM education in the St. Louis region with its continued support of the Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis. The Boeing Company recently awarded the ISP a grant for STEMpact, a unique collaboration of the St. Louis area’s top STEM companies, […]
The best way to develop STEM-capable students is to develop STEM-capable teachers. Instilling awareness of science, technology, engineering and math education needs to happen in elementary school – when it matters most. The Monsanto Fund has awarded the Institute for School Partnership (ISP) at Washington University a $200,000 grant to support the STEM Teacher Quality […]
If the St. Louis region is to close the gap between what its workers know, and what its businesses need, it must play the long game. That’s why St. Louis’ leading employers, school districts and Washington University in St. Louis united to form STEMpact, an organization dedicated to improving science, technology, engineering and math education […]