INL News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2016
NEWS MEDIA CONTACTS:
Lori McNamara, 208-520-6066, [email protected]
Laura Scheele, 219-381-8672, [email protected]
Idaho educators to receive new teaching tools at i-STEM Summer Institutes
IDAHO FALLS — Idaho educators will learn about science, technology, engineering and math-based topics and how to use the information in their classrooms during six low-cost workshops held around the state in June and July.
The teacher workshops are organized by the Idaho STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) initiative, or i-STEM — a partnership of educators, government agencies, organizations and private companies working to improve STEM education in the state. Nearly 700 educators are expected to attend this year’s i-STEM Summer Institutes, which will be held:
- June 20-23 at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene
- June 20-23 at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston
- June 21-24 at Idaho State University in Pocatello
- June 27-30 at Eastern Idaho Technical College in Idaho Falls
- June 27-30 at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls
- July 27-30 at the College of Western Idaho in Nampa
“We have an impressive team reaching across the state to sponsor and support this large-scale professional development opportunity for Idaho educators,” said Anne Seifert, executive director of i-STEM and INL’s K-12 STEM Outreach manager. “The i-STEM program is a nationally and internationally recognized STEM professional development model that aids educators in integration of new ideas, methods and technologies in their curriculum.”
This is the seventh year i-STEM has sponsored the K-12 teacher professional development summer institutes. Since 2010, the number of workshops has expanded from two to six, and hundreds of educators and administrators have participated.
During the workshops, participants choose a specific topic to study, such as clean energy, environmental sustainability, nuclear science, chemistry, computer science, manufacturing, agriculture, gaming and others. They attend sessions taught by STEM experts and participate in general sessions to learn how to integrate STEM, 21st-century skills, career awareness, and the practices of the Idaho Core Standards into the subjects they teach. Participants receive continuing education credits, technology tools, STEM curriculum, connections to STEM experts, and resource kits.
The workshops are organized and funded by i-STEM, a partnership led by INL in collaboration with educators, government agencies and private companies working to improve STEM education in Idaho.
i-STEM members include Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho universities and community colleges, Idaho Department of Education, Idaho STEM Action Center, Intermountain Gas, Micron, Simplot, Idaho Power and others. More information is available at http://sde.idaho.gov/academic/istem/.
