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. […]

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 […]

STEM TQ: developing STEM-capable teachers

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 […]

STEM TQ teachers share STEM-itized curriculum

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 […]

Monsanto Fund awards $200,000 grant to Institute for School Partnership

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 […]