CONTACT Amelia Squires, UNO STEM Outreach Coordinator asquires@unomaha.edu 402-554-3995 ostem.unomaha.edu Twitter and Instagram: UNO_OSTEM

FALL 2015 ISSUE | OSTEM .U NOM AHA.EDU

It was a busy a productive summer in STEM outreach for the Office of STEM Education! Successful programs included the UNO Eureka!-STEM and Partnership 4 Kids STEM BLAST! summer programs, as well as several hands-on activities in the community- at the KANEKO PLAY exhibit and the Omaha Public Library’s Out and About Storytime. Summer also saw the selection of the STEM STARS student cohort. One of the four College of Education students is featured below. You will begin to see their faces at several outreach events, including those coming up this October!

Oct. 3, 2015-LightsOn Afterschool UNO Sapp Field House, 10:00-2:00 FREE, ALL AGES Register at neveringham@collectiveforyouth.org Oct. 3, 2015-LaVista Bioblitz Central Park, La Vista, 10:00-3:00 FREE, ALL AGES Oct. 9, 2015-STAR-B-Q Branched Oak Observatory, 4:00-11:00 FUNDRAISER, ALL AGES Oct. 17, 2015-Celebration of Mind KANEKO, 10:00-2:00 FREE, ALL AGES

INTRODUCING:KYLEE VASKE

Each upcoming issue will feature one on of our new STEM STARS Student Cohort members. These students are undergraduates in the College of Education and complete 40 hours of STEM Education related outreach each semester. My name is Kylee Vaske and I am currently studying Elementary Education here at the University of Nebraska Omaha. My passion for STEM education ignited with my involvement in the Inquiry-Based Thinking in STEM academic learning community during my freshman year at UNO.

My interest in the education field stemmed from my involvement in a program at Elkhorn called teacher cadet. Teacher cadet, a program that allowed me to interact with a kindergarten classroom for two hours a day, taught me the value and impact an educational experience can have on a student, and how sometimes that impact can be a negative one. STEM education is important to me because it is an incredible way to get children active and interested in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Not only is STEM education an exceptional way to teach students gifted topics, but it encourages students to relate learning to the real world. I am pleased to be a part of the STEM STARS student cohort and am eager to continue to expand my knowledge in STEM education.

UNO Eureka!-STEM It was an exciting summer on campus as COE hosted 55 middle school girls in 4-weeks of hands-on, minds-on STEM programming. Sessions included high altitude ballooning, e-textiles (like the light-up monster above), mathematics, chemistry, and more!

UPCOMING EVENTS

SUMMER HIGHLIGHT

IN THE NEWS: UNO STEM Outreach Coordinator, Amelia Squires, spent a week in South Africa learning about conservation and rehabilitation efforts of injured and recovering animals. There are many STEM applications in volunteer work such as this!

The University of Nebraska at Omaha shall not discriminate based upon age, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, gender-identity, sex, pregnancy, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran's status, marital status, religion, or political affiliation.