2022-23 School Year STEM Initiatives
Northwest Middle School STEM Programs
We are excited to partner with Northwest Middle School to offer new STEM activities for students. We were awarded a $100,000 grant from The Boeing Company for STEM education at Northwest. There are three components funded through this grant. First, 125 Chromebooks were purchased for students to use throughout their educational journey.
Next, teachers are utilizing PocketLab Notebook and OpenSciEd, which combines a full middle school science curriculum, hands-on labs and lessons and an interactive lab notebook. Students can see for themselves that STEM is fun and helps teachers meet the needs of their students. PocketLab provides a hands-on, classroom-ready learning system that brings together data sensors, lab software and lesson plans. Students have the tools needed to collect data that can be used as evidence to construct explanations and design solutions.
In November 2022, Northwest Middle School held a STEM Night for students and their families with funds from Boeing. The night helped to create excitement for STEM in the Northwest school community by having students, teachers and families explore STEM activities and opportunities together in a fun way.
We have also partnered with Marathon Community Investment Programs to fund Environmental Studies opportunities at Northwest. Students will learn about life sciences and biodiversity while researching and analyzing the data they collect from the ecosystems they explore. They will hypothesis design solutions or explanations of their findings.
Elementary School STEM Programs
In partnership with the Salt Lake City School District Science Department, we are piloting new STEM kits to increase engagement in STEM activities that tie into classroom instruction. Through a Marathon Community Investment Programs grant, four schools will receive three bundles appropriate for different grade levels. The bundles tie into grade level standards. A STEM coach will help schools effectively implement the STEM bundles to ensure success.
Participating Schools:
- Edison Elementary School
- Franklin Elementary School
- Rose Park Elementary School
- Washington Elementary School
We are also working to ensure that students have access to high-quality STEM enrichment activities and field trips. Our donors have made it possible for 1,130 students to access programs at Wasatch Mountain Institute and STARBASE Hill.
Wasatch Mountain Institute
There are two grade levels that will be served in this incredible experience in the Wasatch Back. Students in 5th grade will attend Snow School, an outdoor winter experience, while students in 6th grade will attend Day Camp.
Snow School is a bridge connecting kids to the world of snow science and winter recreation. Curriculum is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and combines a field trip in the snow with classroom presentations. Students learn about hydrology, winter ecology, wildlife and snow crystals. They also make a vital connection between the snowpack—the largest reservoir in the West—and the water they drink every day. In the 2022-23 school year, 612 students will participate in Snow School.
Participating Schools:
- Backman Elementary School
- Bennion Elementary School
- Edison Elementary School
- Escalante Elementary School
- Franklin Elementary School
- Indian Hills Elementary School
- Liberty Elementary School
- Mary W. Jackson Elementary School
- Meadowlark Elementary School
- Mountain View Elementary School
- Newman Elementary School
- North Star Elementary School
- Rose Park Elementary School
- Washington Elementary School
Day Camp brings an entire grade group of students, teachers and parent chaperones to learn and play at the Rock Cliff Nature Center in Jordanelle State Park. The field science program supports Utah’s 6th grade core curriculum.
Dedicated Wasatch Mountain Institute staff lead small field groups in engaging science, team building and social-emotional learning activities. In the 2022-23 school year, 752 students will participate in the program.
Participating Schools:
- Backman Elementary School
- Bennion Elementary School
- Escalante Elementary School
- Franklin Elementary School
- Indian Hills Elementary School
- Liberty Elementary School
- Mary W. Jackson Elementary School
- Meadowlark Elementary School
- Newman Elementary School
- North Star Elementary School
- Rose Park Elementary School
- Washington Elementary School
- Glendale Middle School
STARBASE Hill
Science and Technology Academies Reinforcing Basic Aviation and Space Exploration (STARBASE) Hill is a STEM focused five-day opportunity for 5th grade students in Title I schools. The program aims to create excitement for STEM through fun hands-on experiences. In the 2022-23 school year, 245 students will participate in the program.
The program engages students through discovery-based curriculum incorporating "hands-on, mind-on" activities. They explore a wide spectrum of science concepts from energy and fluid mechanics to nanotechnology and Newton's Laws of Motion. Additionally, students become captivated by engineering through computer-aided design creating space stations, lab modules and shuttles. Math is embedded throughout the curriculum where students use metric measurement, estimation, coordinate geometry and data analysis to solve questions. Finally, STARBASE Hill stresses teamwork as students work together to explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate concepts.
Learn more about STARBASE Hill
Participating Schools:
- Bennion Elementary School
- Edison Elementary School
- Escalante Elementary School
- Mary W. Jackson Elementary School
- North Star Elementary School
- Washington Elementary School
District STEM Fair
Each year, our donors support the Salt Lake City School District’s Science and Engineering Fair. The fair provides an opportunity for students in 5th through 12th grades who are interested in science and technology to pursue their personal areas of interest and to display their research as a presentation in a public competitive forum. The Salt Lake City School District’s Science and Engineering Fair helps nurture enthusiasm in STEM through applying what they learn in classes to real life. The fair helps students develop confidence, critical thinking, problem-solving, time management and communication skills.
West High School Robotics
Through support from Northrop Grumman, West High School was able to expand programing to Northwest Middle School. The grant sponsored two FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics teams at one high school and one middle school.
FIRST Tech Challenge students learn to think like engineers. Teams design, build and program robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams.