STEM in Macon County

STEM Positions – Welcome our two new STEM Teachers –Susan Steiner at Macon Middle School and Gloria Painter at Mountain View Intermediate School.  Curriculum support and career/continued education focus.

• Engineering Design Process
• Robotics
• Project Based Learning
• Community Partnerships

STEM Nights– If your school is interested in participating, please let me know asap so I can get a date on the calendar.

• MVI – Nov. 7^th
• EFE – Jan. 16^th 2020

STEM Coffeehouse – middle and high school – will start in October and is after school at the FROGS headquarters.  Flyers will be posted at school and a text/email will be sent for advertising.  Guest speakers discuss careers and conduct an activity related to the career.

Oct. 7^th – Mycelial Mass Mushroom Meetup Engage with a community of fungi lovers who are dedicated to the study and cultivation of mycoflora and share strains, cultivation techniques, and customized agar recipes. Watch pros like Alan Rockefeller DNA sequence new species of mushroom, or jumpstart new cultured varieties of edible and medicinal mushrooms from liquid cultures, agar plates, grow bags, or wild specimens.  Learn to use mycelium to make physical objects like bowls and cups, mycofabrics, and biodegradable packing materials.

Oct. 14^th – Women in STEM with Aerospace Engineer and Mathematician

Science/Math oriented field trips and outreach programs – please let teachers know that I have several field trip options/contacts and possible funding support.

• Highlands Biological Station/Highlands Nature Center/Highlands Outreach
• The Bascom Gallery
• NC Arboretum
• Young Harris Planetarium
• Fontana Regional Library

Discovery Education – We have the Math Techbook license for MMS, FHS and MEC for two more years.  We also have Discovery Education streaming for one more school year.  Please encourage teachers to take advantage of these resources.  They can access through NCIAM Discovery Education icon.

Professional Development related to STEM- http://www.macon.k12.nc.us/stem/registration-for-programs/

• I am posting PD opportunities on the website from NCCAT, The Science House and other local providers. If teachers ask for PD, please refer them to the STEM website – macon.k12.nc.us/STEM
• CREW is September 30^th (Monday). I have funds for 6 teachers and will be handling the registration for teachers to attend.  Please let me know if you plan to allow teachers to use local school PD funds for this event.
• Additional PD needs? org? Literacy in STEM?  STEM Strategies in Macon share session?  Please let me know what your teachers need and we will see if we can get it scheduled and sub pay funded.

NC Science Festival is the month of April – the theme is STEM for ALL.  I will be planning events for the NC Science Festival in Macon County (Examples – Earth Day Celebration, Duke Energy Science Night (grant), guest speakers, star gazing night for public).

Grants:  Currently receiving funding from

• NASA for NASA related curriculum activities (materials, PD, field trips).
• STEM-E (until end of September and then we hope to be renewed for next year). If renewed we will have funding for professional development, materials and STEM Nights or other community related STEM events.  This grant also funds the STEM-E clubs at almost all the schools.  This involves the fall STEM Student Conferences (Elementary is Oct. 18^th, Middle is September 6 and High is September 5).
• Community STEM Donations – some folks from the community have contributed funds to support specific events (Muddy Sneakers at MVI, Robotics). These funds are also used for materials and for some professional development support (CREW).

Robotics

5^th – 8^th grade will have robotics as part of their STEM classes.  It will be determined in early 2020 if we will be forming teams and competing at the local level.

9^th – 12^th grade Macon Bots will be meeting twice a month in the Fall and once a week in the Spring semester.  We are not participating in the FIRST competition this year but will be building a robot on our own to donate to the community (SWAT team possibility).  There is room on this team to join and we meet at the STEM Space at the business park.

Makerspaces in Media Centers – EFE, SME, Highlands School – please let me know if your media specialist is interested in developing a Makerspace.  We are working on putting “rotating activities” in the spaces to share across schools.

Please contact me if you have any questions!

Jennifer Love

Jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us

828-524-3314

www.macon.k12.nc.us/STEM

Support the Macon Bots by purchasing a $5.00 raffle ticket to win a Nintendo Switch gameplayer.  The raffle will go through October 19, 2019.  Value is $299.00.  All proceeds go to the Macon Bots Robotics team.  For more information, please contact Jennifer Love at jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us

The Macon Bots high school robotics team has been meeting this week to learn more about CAD, JAVA, pneumatics and marketing!  Over half the team has been working this week to prepare for the upcoming robotics season.  If you would like to join the team, please contact Jennifer Love at jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our County Commissioners and County Manager for their support of public education in our county. We truly believe that each of you understands that our children are our future.

Thank you for your willingness to support an education that will prepare our students to become the employees needed by businesses in Macon County and throughout the world. As a result of your efforts, Macon County students will leave our high schools with a better understanding of the technology & skills necessary to be successful in any career path.

STEM Tech conference: https://youtu.be/7tj3yCaAg0k

Mountain View Intermediate School will be offering the Muddy Sneakers program to ALL of our 5th-grade students next year.  This program provides 6 field experiences (4 off-site and 2 on the school campus) that correlate with the science standards for 5th grade.  Because we have such a large group, they are looking to hire part-time instructors for their program.

Also, if you would like to learn more about this program or how you can sponsor a student or team, please contact Jennifer Love at jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us.  The total cost is $50.00 per student for ALL 6 field experiences.

https://muddy-sneakers.breezy.hr/p/2eae58a1cd0a

https://muddy-sneakers.breezy.hr/p/1a5e6a0261ab-wnc-program-director

The STEM Space:  Launchpad for Innovators in now official with new signs!  

STEM Family Code Day at Iotla Elementary! For more information, go to https://www.ncnights.org/

Students, parents and teachers participated in an hour of coding on Family Code Day (May 13th).  Students in 3rd grade got to learn a little about coding with their parents!

Got compost? Macon County is home to a new vermiculture business (worm castings for compost). Thank you so much for the tour!

For more information, go to Life Cycle Organics on Facebook!
You can pick up their product at several nurseries in the area including Winding Stair Farms-https://windingstairfarm.com/nursery/

Lego Robotics Camp

2019 Dates:

June 10-14, 2019 (Grades 4, 5 & 6)
June 17-21, 2019 (Grades 3, 4 & 5)
June 24-28, 2019 (Grades 6, 7 & 8)
9 am – 4 pm  |  Camp Building Room 139
Early Registration Cost: $119.00  (lunches included)
(After June 1, cost will be $159)

REGISTER ONLINE

Hands-on day camp using Legos and Lego Robotics

Students will explore the technology behind robotic technology while building and programming with LEGO building sets. They will be challenged with LEGO LME V3 (these are the newest kits from LEGO) robotic programming, will build their own robotic creations, and will have the opportunity to challenge their knowledge with mini competitions and challenges throughout the week.

Details

The camp meets from 9 am to 4 pm Monday through Thursday. On Friday, the camp will meet from 9 am to 2 pm. Campers will eat lunch daily in the Courtyard Dining Hall on campus and will be accompanied by the teacher and an assistant at all times. On Friday, students will showcase some of their work at 1 pm for parents, grandparents, and any special guest of the student. Anyone wishing to come for lunch on Friday to eat with the campers can purchase a meal ticket in the dining hall.

https://www.wcu.edu/engage/professional-enrichment/camps-and-programs-for-kids/robotics-camp.aspx

Launch a rocket to creativity this summer!

June 24- 28, 2019

Monday-Friday, 10am until 4pm
Registration: $140
Discounted registration price of $100 for sibling(s)

REGISTER ONLINE

An online interest survey will be required of all registered participants. Please watch your email or watch the link on the side of this page.

Children who are 7 through 14 years old may choose from a variety of projects that range from creating a miniature museum, filming a news broadcast, creating an invention, solving a world problem, myth-busting and more. Children will be working in small groups with a ratio 1:5, providing a personalized creative experience for each child.   Participants will also have the opportunity to participate in a “maker space” to complete challenges such as creating a Rube Goldberg machine.  On Friday, parents are invited to a showcase of the creative projects developed during the week.   Registration is limited to the first 30 children.  Scholarships are available.  Please contact Lisa Bloom at bloom@wcu.edu for information regarding scholarships.

https://www.wcu.edu/engage/professional-enrichment/conferences-and-community-classes/rocket-to-creativity.aspx

Information on other WCU Camps

https://www.wcu.edu/engage/professional-enrichment/camps-and-programs-for-kids/day-camps.aspx