Wednesday, October 16, North Mahaska hosted the South Central STEM Advisory Board’s monthly meeting including giving them a tour of Ryan Groom’s Industrial Tech classroom and work areas. The advisory board’s goal is to help create awareness and a voice for every Iowan in regards to expanding the opportunities in STEM for the state. Besides providing a clear voice for each region, regional boards also help facilitate access to STEM educational opportunities like STEM Scale-Up Programs; create knowledge about all STEM components and collaborate with businesses, organizations and formal and informal education agencies to increase student engagement in STEM.
The large focus areas this year is increasing math opportunities for students as well as a commitment to the governor’s Future Ready Iowa initiative. Groom’s tour highlighted the wonderful ways students are learning hands-on through the business aspect of his courses. He also spoke of the pride and ownership our students have toward their work. After the tour, the advisory board spent some time reflecting on everything they had seen and heard about from Ryan Groom, Angela Livezey, and Amber Goemaat.
The feedback from the advisory board was wonderful! They were impressed by not just the quality of experiences the students are getting here at North Mahaska but also by the quantity. While we might be a small school, we have so much to offer the students of North Mahaska!