WakeEd Partnership Honored with US2020 STEM Mentoring Award

On October 10, 2017, US2020 announced that WakeEd Partnership has been awarded the US2020 STEM Mentoring Award for Excellence in Public-Private Partnerships. The award recognized WakeEd’s SummerSTEM and World Cafe programs, which engage STEM businesses and organizations in supporting educators by helping them bring real-world lessons to the classroom.

What is SummerSTEM?

SummerSTEM is a collaboration between WakeEd, the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), and numerous STEM businesses and organizations in North Carolina. This eight-day professional development program exists to enrich the educator’s understanding of the knowledge and skills that are necessary to succeed in STEM careers.

During SummerSTEM, 100 WCPSS educators engage in hands-on experiences designed to help them bring real-world lessons to the classroom. For one week during the summer, they are immersed in STEM organizations to experience industry practices and in Wake Technical Community College classrooms to experience collegelevel applied STEM instruction. Throughout the year, mentors coach SummerSTEM educators in lesson design and project-based learning.

STEMposiumhighlights educator experiences and outcomes from SummerSTEM. Inspired students and educators present their successful project-based learning units and these innovative educational practices are added to the WCPSS curriculum warehouse for use throughout Wake County. In 2017, more than 200 business, government, and education leaders attended STEMposium to see how SummerSTEM teachers were engaging students in real-world, STEM project-based learning

What is World Cafe?

At WakeEd’s annual STEM and Global Studies World Café, business, nonprofit and government leaders collaborate with educators during focused networking sessions. WakeEd partners with the Wake County Public School System to match educational needs with time and talent resources to help bring classroom and school-wide projects to life.

The Idea Crucible, fashioned after the television show “Shark Tank,” gives students and educators the opportunity to pitch their innovative project ideas to a panel of judges in hopes of receiving a grant from WakeEd Partnership. Many schools apply, but only four make it to the final round and present at World Café.

World Café was created to help students meet the challenges of a fast-paced dynamic world. The projects that arise from these meetings enrich student learning for years to come

The US2020 STEM Mentoring Awards are a platform to celebrate and encourage exceptional work in the STEM mentoring field. This year’s winners will receive public recognition as part of the 2017 STEM Mentoring Symposium in Washington, D.C. on October 10th.