Four Schools Awarded STEM Scale Up Grants

Four DMPS schools – Brody, Cowles, Harding and Morris – received STEM Scale Up awards from the State of Iowa.

Four DMPS schools and a chapter of the Boys & Girls Club of Central Iowa that’s housed at a district middle school have been notified they will receive STEM Scale Up awards from the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council for the 2017-18 school year.

The council is comprised of leaders in higher education, business, PK-12 educators, and government officials at both state and local levels.

Cowles Montessori (Lower Elementary), Morris Elementary School, Brody Middle School and Harding Middle School were all among the schools in the South Central region whose applications for funding were approved. So was the BGCCI chapter based at McCombs Middle School.

Each of the schools selected Making STEM Connections from the menu of Scale Up program options. It’s a teaching curriculum supplement developed in conjunction with the Science Center of Iowa and aimed at students in grades 1-8.

Making STEM Connections brings the “Maker Movement” into the classroom. Students explore STEM principles and 21st Century skills by designing and creating, i.e., making. The program enhances science curricula with hands-on, minds-on applications and allows teachers to develop a maker’s space in their classrooms. It includes teacher training on tool usage and safety as well as lesson prompts and non-fiction resources.

MSC is both a literal and figurative toolkit that enables students to use a variety of tools for assembling and deconstructing projects and apply principles of the scientific method.

The reaction of Cowles principal Greg Grylls upon receiving notification of the award was echoed at each of the other district schools that will benefit from the initiative:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for our community. We will not only receive additional professional development, we will also receive classroom materials, science equipment, and most importantly a partnership with the Science Center of Iowa.”