July 31 to August 2, 14 amazing YSA teachers will gather at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for “STEM Fest: A Serious Celebration.” YSA is bringing these teachers to Washington for a two-day summit to celebrate their achievements in leading their classes in a STEMester of Service, an extended service-learning program in which middle school students learned standards-based science, technology, engineering and/or math curricula through addressing an environmental issue affecting their communities.
Throughout STEM Fest, the teachers will work together with YSA staff to identify promising practices in STEM-based service-learning; YSA will apply this knowledge to the design of its future programs. STEMester of Service projects have included study and action to promote local watershed preservation, awareness campaigns around hydraulic fracturing and uranium mining, and studies on environmentally-friendly urban planning. Read more about recent STEMester projects or watch videos from STEMester of Service teachers and their students.
STEM Fest culminates in a panel presentation at which teachers will share their success stories with an audience of education, government, and service leaders. Kumar Garg of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who leads President Obama’s “Educate to Innovate” initiative, will speak about the importance of STEM education in building career and workforce readiness skills. RMC Research, the program’s external evaluator, will be on hand to share the latest evaluation results from the teachers’ STEMester programs.
STEM Fest is co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce, which promotes the rigorous educational standards and effective job training systems needed to preserve the strength of America's greatest economic resource, its workforce. The event marks the conclusion of the first three years of YSA’s “STEMester of Service” program, which was funded by a three-year, $1 million grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service as part of an initiative to expand STEM-based service-learning.
“Educators and employers are searching for ways to better prepare young people for STEM-based careers, and we know that service-learning is a proven model to engage students to be good workers and good citizens in service to their communities,” says Steven A. Culbertson, president and CEO of YSA. “STEM Fest is a chance to learn from and celebrate remarkable educators who are working on the cutting edge of the education field.”
