BmoreSTEM Website Updated

A cohort of Towson University seniors majoring in Information Technology spent the fall semester working on a capstone project for us. The project added content and functionality to the BmoreSTEM website. The first enhancement was to revise the look and feel of the website to:

Create a more professional appearance
Enhance consistency across pages
Make it easier to maintain.

The second enhancement was to provide additional detail about the efforts of each of our active workgroups. Finally, the team worked to define requirements for the website to better meet the needs of parents in the Baltimore City community. The team hosted two focus group meetings with representative parents. As a result, the team developed BETA versions of two features. On feature is a repository (searchable database) of STEM offerings in the city. When finished, this repository will summarize local:

After-school and summer STEM programs
STEM Attractions (such as museums and zoos)
Upcoming STEM Events

The other new feature was a curated list of weblinks to aid parents in guiding their children on their exploration of STEM occupations. The purpose of providing these resources is to help parents to inspire an interest in STEM, to help communicate the variety of STEM and STEM-related job opportunities that exist, and to share strategies for preparing for such jobs.

The website committee is looking for STEM professions to volunteer as advisors to vet these resources and suggest additional pertinent resources.

Alternate Spring Break Opportunity to Encourage College Students to Consider Teaching STEM

The STEM Teacher Recruitment Workgroup will pilot an alternative spring break, ASB, experience for undergraduate STEM majors from Johns Hopkins, Morgan State and Notre Dame Universities the week of March 16, 2020. The goal of this experience is to expose current undergraduate students to STEM classrooms in Baltimore City to encourage these students to consider teaching as a career option while serving their local community. Participants will include:

Post-secondary undergraduates who will co-teach with a STEM teacher during their college/university spring break. Students can be freshmen – seniors. The team will work to ensure that freshmen, if selected, are very mature and placed with an appropriate grade level based on their age and maturity.
Baltimore City Secondary STEM teachers including computer science (grades 7-12).

So far two middle schools and one high school have agreed to provide teachers to participate as mentors for undergraduate students. Our goal is to place 5 students with 5 teachers in the pilot year. We are in the process of applying for approval to award CPD units to participating teachers. Teachers would be required to attend a training and reflection meetings, participate in collaborative planning with an assigned undergraduate student and host the student in their science classroom for the week of March 16th, 2020.

Baltimore City Robotics Programs Continue to Expand

Number of Programs

- Increase in total number of programs
  - 2013-14: 38 programs
  - 2014-15: 62 programs
  - 2015-16: 82 programs
  - 2016-17: 79 programs
  - 2017-18: 72 programs
  - 2018-19: 82 programs
  - 2019-20: 95 programs

Baltimore City Public Schools remains a large percentage of Maryland programs:

53/146 (36.3%) of registered Maryland VEX IQ teams are from Baltimore City up from 44/158 (27.8%) from December 2018

37/180 (20.5%) of registered Maryland VEX teams are from Baltimore City up from (18.7%) from December 2018

Year\Program	FLL	FLL Jr.	FRC	VEX	VEX IQ	Grand Total
2013-14	14		2	22		38
2014-15	25		1	36		62
2015-16	26	9	1	24	22	82
2016-17	22	13	1	26	17	79
2017-18	16	15	1	21	19	72
2018-19	18	15	1	26	22	82
2019-20	22	18*	1	23	31	95
Grand Total	143	70	8	178	111	510

*Projected

Number of Teams

Increase in the number of teams

- 2013-14: 58 teams
- 2014-15: 91 teams
- 2015-16: 89 teams
- 2016-17: 112 teams
- 2017-18: 110 teams
- 2018-19: 127 teams
- 2019-20: 140 teams

Year\Program	FLL	FLL Jr.	FRC	VEX	VEX IQ	Grand Total
2013-14	15		2	41		58
2014-15	26		1	64		91
2015-16	22	7	1	34	25	89
2016-17	24	13	1	47	27	112
2017-18	19	20	1	35	35	110
2018-19	19	20	1	44	43	127
2019-20	24	22*	1	37	56	140
Grand Total	149	82	8	302	185	587

*Projected

Number of New Programs

- Increase in number of new programs each year, but declines in 2016-17.
  - 2013-14: 16 of 38 programs are new (42.1%)
  - 2014-15: 38 of 62 programs are new (61.3%)
  - 2015-16: 49 of 82 programs are new (59.8%)
  - 2016-17: 31 of 79 programs are new (39.2%)
  - 2017-18: 30 of 72 programs are new (41.7%)
  - 2018-19: 33 of 82 programs are new (40.2%)
  - 2019-20: at least 30 new programs

Year\Coaching Status	New	Veteran	Veteran Coach and School, New Program	Grand Total
2013-14	16	22		38
2014-15	38	22	2	62
2015-16	49	28	5	82
2016-17	31	47	1	79
2017-18	30	40	2	72
2018-19	33	49		82
Grand Total	197	208	10	415

2018-19 Robotics Statistics (As of October 2019)

Baltimore City Schools Offers Virtual Advanced Math Course for Dual Enrollment

Need:

Students should have equitable access to advanced math programming.

Goal:

Increase the number of high school students enrolled in advanced math courses (Pre-Calculus/Calculus/AP Calculus/AP Statistics/dual enrollment) at their schools or at local colleges.

Update:

In Partnership with the University of Baltimore, Baltimore City High School students that meet eligibility criteria can enroll and earn 3 college credits by taking a Virtual Intro to Statistics Dual Enrollment course (MATH 115). This program will be funded by the Office of Early College Initiatives at UB and will be no cost to the students.

See the flyer for more information.

Seeking Student Representatives – Application deadline extended to January 24, 2020

Do you want to represent young people in Baltimore and grow as a leader?

Apply to join the BmoreSTEM Student Advisory Council and work with industry professionals to help develop opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.

What is BmoreSTEM?

BmoreSTEM is a network of organizations and individuals committed to brightening Baltimore’s future by developing opportunities to equip students to join the science, technology, engineering, and math workforce and live as technically literate citizens.

What is the BmoreSTEM Student Advisory Council (BmoreSTEM SAC)?

The Student Advisory Council will contribute to the efforts of the BmoreSTEM Workgroup initiatives through direct participation and indirectly, by serving as a focus group & sounding board to the Workgroups. A BmoreSTEM SAC member can expect to attend periodic Council Meetings and some of the Workgroup meetings as needed. The BmoreSTEM SAC will consist of current Baltimore City Public School (City Schools) middle or high School students and City Schools graduates currently enrolled in a local college pursuing a STEM-based degree.

What are the benefits?

Influence the development of STEM related opportunities for students across Baltimore
Leadership experience and skill development
Opportunities for internships and mentorships
Service learning credits

What are Member Expectations / Responsibilities?

Attend periodic Council sessions to set goals aligned with the BmoreSTEM’s overall objectives and share out progress – Once every quarter for 2 hours plus adhoc workgroup sessions that are once every two months at the most
Attend workgroup sessions when called upon – act as a focus group
Attend BmoreSTEM annual convening
Contribute to achieving set goals

Deadline for applications: January 24, 2020

For information and inquiries, please contact Melissa Sandlin.

[email protected] / 410-499-6076

Month: December 2019