STEM Forward Announces Excellence in STEM Awards Winners to be recognized at the 21st Annual sySTEMnow Conference, Focusing on Soaring Beyond Boundaries; Exploring Frontiers in STEM
Milwaukee, Wisconsin – October 17, 2024. STEM Forward is thrilled to announce the 2024 Excellence in STEM Award winners, more commonly known as the Stemmy Awards. Help us congratulate the following:
- Education Category: TWIST – Muskego High School Wariorbots
TWIST (Together, Women in STEM Thrive) is an event hosted by Muskego High School’s FIRST robotics team, the WarriorBots, each October dedicated to empowering girls in STEM through competitive robotics. At its core, TWIST is a competition with a twist, as robots are driven entirely by girls in exciting competition between teams from across the Midwest. But TWIST goes beyond robotics to provide an inclusive, safe environment for girls to gain confidence and grow their skills. Giving girls the opportunity to take these leadership roles in a supportive environment allows them to thrive and recruit more young women to join. This helps address the low participation rate of girls. As of last year, only 25.7% of participants in the FIRST Wisconsin program were girls, a disparity that Wariorrbots strive to improve through their efforts.
- Employer Category: Generac
Generac not only generates power solutions but also generates awareness of STEM in Wisconsin through its corporate giving and employee volunteerism. Supporting STEM education is a primary focus of its efforts, and in 2023, nearly 50 percent of the Generac Foundation’s donations were directed toward education. Generac is focused on getting youth excited about what STEM offers and invests in hands-on programs demonstrating how students can solve problems and make an impact. An example of this is their partnership with MSOE. The Generac and MSOE Youth Engineering Design Academy brings public school children to the STEM Center to experience the engineering design process. Similar experiences happen at other STEM programs Generac supports, including summer STEM camps at WCTC, Discovery World, UWM, and Maydm. They also bring STEM programming to underserved rural communities such as Berlin, Jefferson, and Oshkosh, which included a visit from the STEM Shuttle to a local school, supporting Skills USA, and investing in STEM programs at the local Boys & Girls Clubs.
- Partnership Category: Lincoln STEM Elementary School & PTO
Lincoln Elementary School re-established itself as a STEM elementary school within the Watertown Unified School District (WUSD) in 2016; however, they quickly realized that they would need help from the community to reach their goals. With the support of the organization, planning, and support of parents, staff, and educators, the Lincoln STEM PTO, a 501(c)3 organization, was established. Together, they bring school families and staff closer to aid in enriching their students’ STEM education. This has created more engaging STEM experiences to start the love of hands-on, problem-solving learning early in their 4k-5th grade levels. Some examples of STEM resouces include a magnetic constructor gear board, light board, hydroponic grow supplies, grow tent fans and lights, gloforge and 3-D printing items, funds for STEM-related books, passion projects, and field trips.
- Individual Category: Maverick Berner
Maverick Berner is a fourth-year PhD candidate at Marquette University who is researching K-12 computing education. Since 2021, Maverick has played a pivotal role as a member of Project {FUTURE}, a partnership between Marquette University in Milwaukee and Sacred Heart University in Connecticut that aims to promote computer science accessibility in K-5 schools. Along with his Project {FUTURE} colleagues, Maverick has worked closely with K-5 teachers to develop innovative curriculum units that integrate computer science with instruction in other content areas. To support the initiative, Maverick successfully facilitated partnerships between a development team of undergraduate student researchers and K-5 teachers, allowing for the creation of lessons and tools that address the specific needs and contexts of the classrooms they are used in. His commitment to creating materials that are both engaging and accessible to young learners has resulted in a growing library of digital resources to promote CS education across the Connecticut and Milwaukee Public Schools and beyond.
We are pleased to announce our keynote speakers. Captain Barrington Irving will speak about Empowering Tomorrow: Captain Barrington Irving’s Journey from World-Record Aviation to Transformative STEM+ Education. As a Guinness world-record-setting and National Geographic Explorer, Captain Barrington Irving elevates the conversation around STEM education and describes how to take an innovative approach through technology and creativity. He also created The Flying Classroom, a supplemental PK-12, digital STEM+ curriculum aligned to national and state standards based on the global expeditions of Captain Irving.
Our morning keynote speaker is Ted Wells, president of STEMconnector, an organization he helped co-found. Ted is committed to supporting industry engagement in STEM education and workforce development. In his role at STEMconnector, Ted leads a team dedicated to sustainable and impactful employer support of education. Both speakers will discuss key local STEM priorities from a national perspective. Along with the keynote speakers, we have 12 breakout sessions with a variety of representations from greater Milwaukee.
Join STEM Forward for this premier STEM conference and help celebrate the 2024 Stemmy Award Winners, presented by Dr. Victor Amaya, the President and Executive Director of Data You Can Use. To view a detailed agenda and learn more about sySTEMnow Conference, visit https://www.stemforward.org/systemnow-conference. Don’t miss out; register for the sySTEMnow Conference today. We encourage you to connect with STEM Forward on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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