Thank you to all who joined us in Baton Rouge for the STEM Consortium Meeting. It was such an incredible event filled with passionate educators and collaborative minds that amplified the importance of science education and research.
Educators and superintendents from around the country learned from each other through presentations and panels on educational leadership, equity, STEM exploration, pathways, and more!
Day 1:
East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS) Superintendent, Dr. Sito Narcisse, presenting to attending educators.
Dr. Eleanor Smalley, President and CEO of JASON Learning introducing presenters and leading off the conference.
East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome and Dr. Michael Robinson, Chief Academic Officer (EBRPSS), provided insight and motivation to our attending educators.
Dr. Christopher F. D’Elia, Professor and Dean, College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University.
Educational leaders learned how to run a Design & Pitch Challenge across grade levels and make it more localized for their community. For more information on how EBRPSS ran the Challenge, visit https://bit.ly/EBRSPRINGSTEM. Two groups of incredible students (pictured below) from East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS) developed a winning solution to JASON and NCSU’s Design & Pitch Challenge: Operation Lifeline and shared it with us!
Watch their pitch presentations here:
Elementary School Operation Lifeline Pitch
High School Operation Lifeline Pitch
Attendees toured three different research labs in LSU’s College of the Coast and Environment. The tours included information on ecosystem food webs, coastal water pollutants and their effects on the deep ocean, and emergency response and research for chemical and oil spills near shore environments.
Dr. Christopher F. D’Elia, Professor and Dean, College of the Coast and Environment (LSU), presenting on Coastal and Global Environmental Change and its Impact on STEM Education.
Participants listened to a panel of educational professionals and partook in a Q&A focused on the Future of STEM Education.
Day 2:
LSU Center for River Studies is located on the Baton Rouge Water Campus near the banks of the Mississippi River. It houses one of the world’s largest movable bed physical models – the Lower Mississippi River Physical Model. The river model is 10,000 square feet and based on the topography and bathymetry of the Mississippi River Delta covering southeast Louisiana. To learn more about the River Center, visit LSU Center for River Studies.
Participants toured the incredible Center for River Studies at LSU and observed a scale model of the last 190 water miles of the Mississippi River. It allows scientists to model sediment movement and wetland restoration/land loss according to potential changes in the river and silt patterns.
Mr. Ed Toman, Superintendent of Mercer County Public Schools (WV) presenting to attendees on how to Help Students Become Stars with JASON’s Argonaut program.
Dr. Melissa Stewart, Assistant Superintendent of Indian Hill Exempted Village School District (OH) presenting on the Holistic Impact of STEM Education.
Dr. David Eshelman, Assistant Director of Career and Technical Education for Stafford County Public Schools (VA) presenting on Stafford’s Transformation with Technology.
