Success Stories  

 Some of the Sierra STEM Community Collaborative activities from April to June 2009 included:

  • 7th and 8th graders have been exposed to STEM Career Education — Chicago Park School, Weimar Hills School, EV Cain Middle School, Glen Edwards Middle School, North Tahoe Middle School, Alder Creek Middle School, Union Hill School, Clear Creek School District and Placer County Alternative Education. Program were provided access to Career Cruising http://www.careercruising.com/ software for the school year 2009-10.   
  • In CTE sectors, industry and educators participated advisory meetings, subgrants were established to support high school integrated curriculum projects, articulation workshops were held, and Sierra College CTE and 49er ROP classes were aligned.
  • Instructor Externships were offered and teachers visited employers using mechatronics and CNC technologies as well as visited CSU programs.
  • Professional Development – Teachers attended the “Makers Faire,” Sierra College faculty attended NCATC Summer Workshop, and instructors from Oakmont, Lincoln, Colfax, Placer and Nevada Union high schools attended a Professional Learning Communities workshop.
  • Tahoe Truckee High School – 23 students and one teacher participated in hands-on, applied academic training with the CACT Tech-Explorer catapult project.
  • North Tahoe High School Plans were made to offer Sierra College Engineering Support Technology http://www.sierracollege.edu/Programs/cte/engineeringSupport.html Skills Certificate program at the high school.

 

Success Factors

Based on the early experiences of implementing this grant, the Sierra STEM compiled a list of success factors in establishing a STEM program at a school. Success Factors in Starting and Maintaining a Sierra STEM Team

To learn more about the success of the Tech-Explorer program, view a PowerPoint presented at a National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers’ http://ncatc.org/196575.ihtml conference.