Author: Kathy Benson

BmoreSTEM Kicks off the Student Advisory Council (SAC)

BmoreSTEM Ecosystem has launched the Student Advisory Council on July 10, 2020. Baltimore City students from local middle schools, high school and colleges convened virtually to get to know each other, learn about BmoreSTEM’s vision and mission. The SAC will be the voice of students in the City, the sounding board for BmoreSTEM’s workgroup initiatives, and ambassadors and leaders in STEM in their schools, neighborhoods, and communities. The SAC will be meeting once a month during the school year to develop a plan and execute goals for the year. Check back here to learn more about each of our Student Advisory Council members and how you can get involved!


Laptops for qualifying students taking AP computer science

Code.org is working with Amazon and the College Board to help ensure students who need laptops at home can finish their AP computer science course and take the exam this year. Students can register at https://collegeboard.tfaforms.net/74. Availability is limited to a first-come, first-served basis. They can use it for the AP exam and keep it afterwards - it’s their laptop to inspire ongoing learning.

 

This gift to students is made possible through a generous donation from Amazon Future Engineer for students who need laptops at home.


How can you help Baltimore City Schools during the Pandemic?

We have heard from many of you, asking how you can help students in Baltimore get through this difficult time.  BmoreSTEM, in consultation with City Schools, would like to share the following opportunities to help City Schools students:

  • Donate Computers or Tablets:  If you have a used, but still serviceable, device you would like to donate, DigiBmore has committed to refurbish, wipe, clean and deliver devices to City Schools students.
  • Donate to the Baltimore City Public Schools Emergency School Closure Family Support Fund: The Family Support Fund was created at the request of Dr. Santelises to provide vital resources to Baltimore’s communities and schools through challenges associated with school closing and COVID-19. Donations are used to address priority needs for communities, including technology access and food insecurity. The Fund for Educational Excellence is administrating the funds in partnership with City Schools to identify needs, manage funds, and secure contributions. The difficulty and prolonged nature of this uncertain time requires bold, compassionate steps to support our neighbors and fellow Baltimore residents. Donate by clicking here.


Let’s Celebrate Students’ Achievements at the JHU Robotics Tournament

Robotics is a fun and engaging way for students to learn more about engineering and cultivate skills that are important in the workplace.  Baltimore City Public School students competed in a robotics tournament at Johns Hopkins University.

 

Delali's presenstation inspired students to consider a career in STEM. Watch the video of this presentation and browse the slide deck for this presentation.


Candace Givens Shares Why You Should Pursue the Career You Want

Listen to Candance Givens compelling story.  She shares her journey to become an Electrical Engineer and then to go on to become a Vice President for a leading defense contractor locally.  Candace encourages high school students attending a robotics tournament at the Historic Cherry Hill Elementary / Middle School in Baltimore City.


STEM Expanded Learning Database Workgroup Launched

We are happy to announce the formation of our next workgroup, the STEM Learning Database workgroup. Expanded learning refers to opportunities for students after-school, over the summer, and/or at STEM-rich institutions (e.g., museums, zoo, science center)

The new workgroup will support schools and community groups who need additional information when building STEM partnerships. The workgroup will consider criteria for high-quality STEM expanded learning programming and collaborate with existing initiatives to catalog and build matchmaking resources for school and community partnerships.

Please contact Ellie Mictchell or Dawn Shirley by email at [email protected] if you are interested in playing a key role.


Middle Schoolers Hear about Engineering Careers

At the Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School VEX robotics tournament, members of robotics teams took time out to learn about what it is like to become an engineer in Maryland. Mike Hinkey and William Redmond shared their first hand experiences with the youth.

For further information, view any of these videos

 

This presentation is an outgrowth of the work of the BmoreSTEM Effective STEM Mentoring Opportunities workgroup.  BmoreSTEM is looking for more presenters, especially for:

  • Medical
  • Engineering in a Non-defense industry
  • Advanced Manufactoring
  • Computing
  • Cyber
  • Computer Gaming
  • Finance/Business/Accounting
  • Data Analytics
  • Research
  • Education

Share Your Career

BmoreSTEM is looking for STEM professionals to present about their careers. We will videotape the presentations if desired, but other forms of presentation are welcomed as well.




Volunteer Now


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.

Volunteer to Advise Us

BmoreSTEM is looking for STEM professionals to help advise us. Advisers will curate our career development resources. These resources will empower parents to guide their children.




Volunteer Now


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

Team Growth Over TIme Bar Chart

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)