STEM Teacher Externships on Track for Summer 2020

Parkview Middle School Mathematics Teacher Genna Kinley was a 2019 STEM Teacher Extern with John Deere
During her 2019 STEM Teacher Externship, Parkview Middle School Mathematics Teacher Genna Kinley helped John Deere with crucial crop management tools and GPS mapping.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our learning environments, workplaces, social gatherings and more. People around the world are looking at things through a new lens and rapidly making adjustments to safely and effectively deliver instructions, products and services in our communities.

The STEM Teacher Externships Program is a sought-after experience for educators to work alongside skilled professionals in Iowa workplaces to gain insight and understanding of how the skills and concepts taught in the classroom translate into careers. Under the current recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Gov. Kim Reynolds, the STEM Council is adapting this program and others to continue to deliver the experience, while ensuring the safety and well-being of externs and workplace hosts.

The STEM Teacher Externship experience will continue to take place over six weeks this summer with the following adjustments:

  • Virtual professional development and orientation meetings will allow educators to continue to collaborate and share experiences.
  • Social distancing measures are being put in place at workplace sites.
  • Alternate projects for educators are being identified for workplace hosts as needed. For example, rather than an outdoors project at a park with an environmental science educator, a computer science educator can assist with web-based projects.
  • Our STEM network team is diligently working to match teacher-externs and hosts this summer and can even begin the conversation for placements in summer 2021.

The application is still open for educators and workplace hosts to apply for a summer experience. For more information or to apply, visit www.IowaSTEM.gov/externships.

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