Attendees

Education Leadership Teams: 

To support your district's efforts to revitalize STEM education in your school, we invite you to register for this conference as a team.  These "Educational Leadership Teams" are encouraged to prepare a preliminary project idea, prior to the conference, in order to compete for mini-grant funds.  During the conference, teams will be given time to consult with a variety of STEM professionals to fine-tune their plans.  At the end of the conference, mini-grant funds will be awarded to the Educational Leadership Teams with the most promising "Transformational Projects".   Educational Leadership Teams can consist of 2-5 people, and should include a minimum of one teacher and one administrator, as defined below:

Classroom teachers:  science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health, career-technical education, service learning, senior project/internships, and anyone interested in cross-disciplinary and differentiated teaching & learning.

Administrators:  may include principals, superintendents, curriculum coordinators, technology coordinators, school counselors, board members, and any other members of a schools leadership team.  

Featured Speakers:

The conference planning committee has secured several national presenters to share expertise in STEM integration, learning and motivation in the classroom, and project design and implementation.  John McDermott, a college professor in the Education department of the University of Colorado at Denver, recently co-authored Clock Watchers, a book designed to inform educators on motivating and engaging students across the content areas.  In addition, we are pleased to have Annalies Corbin, President of the Ohio based PAST (Partnering Anthropology with Science and Technology) Foundation join our list of featured speakers and breakout session presenters.  She is a nautical archaeologist and STEM Education innovator, and her team has been working with schools in South Dakota to enhance STEM practices in the classroom. 

Thursday Evening Dinner and Presentations:

On Thursday evening the conference has a special event in store.  Participants are first invited for appetizers and a special presentation of the Sanford PROMISE’s Community Lecture Series featuring a STEM Transformation team from Worthington, MN, who will share their efforts in creating a community wide STEM program.  Following the Community Lecture Series, conference participants will be treated to dinner and drinks and a presentation by Jan Morrison, Executive Director of the Ohio based Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM (TIES) and Envision Excellence in STEM.  She will be presenting a session titled:  It’s Not STEM Without the T & E: Transdisciplinary Design, where the audience will be creating STEM projects as a part of her presentation.  To learn more about the Worthington Regional Economic Development Corporation or Jan Morrison, click here.

Conference Strands:

At STEMwise2012, we are pleased to bring you professional development related to four main conference strands:

  • Transdisciplinary approaches:  Busting traditional silos by creating  lessons that reflect real-life,  and providing inertia for students to start developing interdisciplinary skills that are valued in STEM workplace environments.
  • Project design:  Moving beyond vision to implementation:  identifying cultural barriers, building financial and administrative support, sharing results, evaluating your project, and building sustainability. 
  • Innovations and Transformative Technologies :  Capturing students’ interest with 21st Century Tools that can help us globalize our classrooms and develop students’ creative and critical thinking skills.
  • Regional STEM Resources:  Increasing teacher/student awareness of regional resources, including tips for identifying potential partnerships and defining meaningful projects.

At STEMwise 2012, participants will have the opportunity to choose from a diverse selection of keynote speakers, panel presentations, break-out sessions, and special features.  And of course, CEU credit hours will be available for attendees.

Conference Breakout Sessions:
Expand your professional network as you participate in these 40-minute sessions.  Please check the STEMwise website for updates as these sessions become finalized.

Featured Sessions:

With a varied conference planning committee, there are several especially unique breakouts for STEMwise2012. One such session will be presented by a team from West Fargo, ND and NDSCS and will include a STEM Day Experience similar to one they conducted in their area in 2011.  This session will demonstrate the value of STEM techniques to participants and give the ability to become part of the experience we hope to design for students.  Other sessions will provide participants with the knowledge of specific opportunities in STEM in our region, such as The Sanford PROMISE’s hands-on activities developed to create an immersive experience where students explore aspects of biomedical research and science.  The conference will also host sessions on unique programs available in our area such as the STEMFuse program of delivering STEM content through videogame design.

Conference Locations:

Sanford Center: Sanford Health has a premier biomedical research department housed at the Sanford Center in Northeast Sioux Falls.  Sanford Research occupies over 25K square feet of the Sanford Center including an animal housing facility, suites for cell and viral cultures, imaging cores for confocal, fluorescent, and light microscopy, other shared equipment rooms, and an enormous laboratory research space.  Additionally The Sanford Center has several large and small meeting rooms and boasts a high tech community laboratory.  By hosting much of the conference at the Sanford Center participants will be immersed in the STEM environment. 

Washington Pavilion: The Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences in downtown Sioux Falls is the perfect environment for experiencing the link between art and STEM.  Conference participants will spend time in the Visual Arts Center and the temporary Ansel Adams exhibit while having the opportunity to attend breakouts that involve the integration of the arts into STEM.  Additionally, participants will go through the Kirby Science Discovery Center (KSDC), an interactive science center that regularly services student groups and promotes hands-on science for young people.  The KSDC will also be featuring a traveling exhibit entitled Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters and will have recently opened their new interactive KSFY news studio and newly renovated Wells Fargo CineDome.  Breakout sessions at the Pavilion will be designed to connect participants to the arts and inform them of opportunities at the KSDC such as the annual Design Challenge engineering project for youth designed by and hosted at the Pavilion each spring. 

Conference Registration Information:

Registration requires a 3-5 member Education Leadership Team from each school or district.  The team registration fee of $500 covers the cost of conference attendance; meals and snacks Thursday and Friday (see schedule draft for details); Friday exhibit entrance fees for the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Visual Arts Center and the Kirby Science Discovery Center at the Washington Pavilion, and the opportunity to compete for Transformation Project funding upon development of projects.  Travel costs and arrangements are not provided, however, discounts at area hotels have been made available (see website for more information).  Additionally Continuing Education Hours that can be utilized towards licensure CEU’s will be awarded to conference attendees.

STEM Transformation Projects

Do you have an idea for a project that can transform the way you deliver STEM education in your school? The STEMwise team wants to help you take your vision to reality!  Prior to attending the STEMwise conference, you will need to develop an Educational Leadership Team within your school district.  This team should be made up of other professionals in your school district who have a similar passion for STEM and an interest in making it happen!  Together, your team should take time prior to attending the conference to more fully develop your idea using these questions as a guide.  During the STEMwise conference, Educational Leadership Teams will interact with and be consulted by STEM education leaders from across the country to support development of STEM Transformation Projects.

 

STEMwise Mini-Grant Program
The purpose of the STEMwise Mini-Grant Program is to provide funds  (up to $2,500) for development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative STEM Transformation Projects proposed by participating Educational Leadership Teams.  Transformation Projects should address an area of improvement in STEM in your school/district.  Teams with the most compelling proposals will be awarded with mini-grant funds to help expedite their new project.  Download and complete the STEMwise Mini-Grant Program application and submit by June 1st.  For questions or additional information, please contact your regional program officer:

 

Business Support

STEM Transformation Projects bring together transdisciplinary Educational Leadership Teams to merge Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through use of the Arts.  Projects are intended to create dynamic learning communities in school districts, thus engaging and motivating students to become creative thinkers and innovative problem solvers in.  As a regional leader in STEM, sponsoring Transformation Projects is a unique opportunity for your business to inspire the workforce of the 21st Century.

 

 

 

 

Click here for [STEMwise]2012 Transformation Project Guidelines