September 30th, 2023

The STEMposium returns showing STEM and STEAM schools across the state and their journeys to make high quality STEM/STEAM education available to every students.

Portland Metro STEM Partnership is proud to partner with Early Learning Washington County and PNC Bank to help bring STEAM Maniac events to local communities! Check out United Way of Columbia Willamette's website to read a detailed recap of this event.

Developing Resources for STE(A)M Learning was a new course that grew out of the mind of innovative Bend-LaPine STEM educator Alyssa Kornbrath. After participating in a number of PMSP sponsored Statewide STEM School professional development (PD) opportunities herself, and being part of a school-wide STEM Transformation process, Alyssa advocated for her fellow educators statewide. She wanted to create a course that focused on the needs of teachers and students. She wanted a course that supported and compensated teachers with the time to create usable STEM Experiences, partnerships in their classroom, and collaboration with local regional partners. At the same time she wanted to build educator knowledge around the connections and symbiotic nature of STEM, equity, social-emotional learning, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and place-based learning. These ideas came together to create Developing Resources for STE(A)M Learning.

While the COVID-19 Pandemic hit us like a ton of bricks and pulled the collective societal rug from under us, here at PMSP we did learn and listen to what educators need and want. Our educators have a lot on their plate; planning, grading, large class-sizes/caseloads, building student-parents-teacher relationships, student health, personal health (body and mind), home life, and so much more. As educators moved back to in-person teaching it also became apparent that educators wanted in-person professional development (PD) that was high quality and hands-on, but did not require a 20-30 hour commitment when signing up. From this awareness sprung the concept of bite-size in-person PD. Each day would focus on a different topic. Teachers could choose how many or how few of the days they would like to participate in.

Since the challenge and defiance of the COVID-19 Pandemic the Portland Metro STEM Partnership has been looking for effective ways to facilitate online STEM learning and bring more learning opportunities to a far reaching geographic range or Oregon. The NGSS Foundations for STE(A)M Learning is the third iteration of an online Canvas based course meant to support educators in developing STE(A)M knowledge and developing usable lessons and/or units of study for their students for the coming school year.

This month, we wrapped up the four-month long Building Joy and Justice in Mathematics Through Inclusive Practices course. The focus of this course is to make mathematics learning culturally relevant, joyful and focused on understanding issues of fairness and justice through a mathematical lens. Throughout the course, we strove to center the experiences of Black, Brown and Indigenous students who have historically been the most underserved in mathematics education.

Elementary STEAM Leaders is a collaborative program serving PK-8th grade teachers in the Portland Metro, Umpqua, Columbia Gorge, Greater Oregon and Frontier STEM Hubs. Elementary STEAM Leaders also provides opportunities for returning teachers to take on more leadership roles within our year long program. This year PMSP is proud to support a cohort of 25 teachers, representing Portland Public Schools, Hillsboro and Beaverton School Districts.

Every summer, high school science teachers and community-based organizational partners from our region participate in PMSP's half-day externships to learn about careers that bring industry experiences to life for young people. These externships provide teachers a “sneak peak” into STEM career fields offering a living wage and skills students need in order to be competitive. Being able to suggest varied careers with different entry-level requirements can open doors for students.

In a typical year, summer break is a necessary time for educators to unwind from the school year and focus on filling up their own cup so that they may be emotionally and energetically prepared to welcome a new class in the fall. In the summer of 2021, that break was even more essential, as teachers finally had a chance to catch their breath after three quarters of remote instruction, stress and uncertainty brought from returning to in-person school in a hybrid model, supporting students experiencing extreme disruption and trauma, and a school system that was completely upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. And yet, despite what many have described as “the hardest year of my career,” a cohort of teachers signed up for the Joy and Justice in Mathematics summer-long course, because equity and justice work can’t wait. If anything, the pandemic has made this work even more vital.

Learn more about this year’s Design Hustle Academy (DHA) program, a four-month long program offered by NE STEAM Coalition in partnership with Oregon MESA, TiE Oregon Foundation and Portland Metro Metro STEAM Partnership!