New STEAM hubs expand outreach
Five more hubs added to statewide list; boosting opportunities
At Douglas County Partners for Student Success, part of our mission is to help inform educators of various professional opportunities, not just in our county, but statewide. Many of those are connected to our state STEAM hubs.
That list has stretched longer, thanks to a recent joint announcement by the Oregon Department of Education and the state Chief Education Office.
The office in February granted state support to more STEAM hubs to join the six existing hubs, one of which is the Umpqua Valley STEAM Hub. The expansion should allow for more regional cross-sector partnerships. That in turn means more access to trainings and workshops geared toward best practices for STEAM instruction.
STEAM hubs are reinforcing their roles as multi-sector partnerships that link local educators, higher education, workforce and economic development partners, community-based organizations and business/industry representatives. These groups come together to develop a shared vision for increasing student access to STEAM and other experiential learning opportunities.
The resulting professional development sessions aim to increase hands-on learning for students in and out of school settings. They also seek to deepen student connections to the fast-growing STEAM employment opportunities in the region and state.
The five newly funded STEAM hubs span 12 counties. They are:
- Southern Oregon STEM Hub (Klamath, Josephine and Jackson counties)
- Columbia Gorge STEM Hub (Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman, Wasco and Wheeler counties)
- Lane County STEM Hub
- East Multnomah County STEAM Hub (East Multnomah and North Clackamas counties)
- Frontier Oregon STEM Hub (Malheur County)
One way to keep in touch with the state’s 10 other STEAM hubs is through the STEM Oregon website, www.stemoregon.org. Go to the drop-down menu under “For Educators” and click on “opportunities for educators” to see a current list of events.
Douglas Education Service District also publishes weekly professional development updates for educators at www.douglasesd.k12.or.us.
Check back on our website here at DCPSS for featured workshops and links to all the STEAM hub links as those become available. Meanwhile, here is a link to this month’s featured curriculum: http://onrep.forestry.oregonstate.edu/workshops/investigating-environmental-issues-through-inquiry. Called “Focus on Forests and Science and Civics,” the workshop will be held May 7 at Fort Clatsop in Astoria. It’s geared to educators of grades 6 to 12, and is designed to instill confidence in creating and leading field-based investigations for students at those levels.
And we at DCPSS and the Umpqua Valley STEAM Hub extend a hearty “welcome aboard” to the five new STEAM hubs!
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