The document summarizes the history and activities of an organization that promotes STEM education on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. It was founded in 2014 to support STEM programs and became more regional in scope. It organizes programs like mentoring nights, Engineering Cool for 6th graders, and a Science and Engineering Festival for 7th graders. It also provides financial support for robotics teams and helps facilitate engineering classes in local high schools. The goal is to encourage more students from 5th through 12th grade to participate in STEM through collaborative efforts between schools and companies in the area.

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2. Outline
 Summary of the organization
 History
 Classes
 Programs
 Opportunities
 Questions/ideas please!
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3. Brief History
Up until this year, Engineering Advisory Committee
 2006, a couple of us felt a need to introduce engineering at the
High School level ( NPR broadcast)
 Needed a champion at the High School who we found in the
physics teacher ( Carl Sandness)– he needed a lab/ we built it
 2014 determined a need for a nonprofit
 Increase funding options for STEM activities
 Formalize the organization
 Become more regional
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4. Summary
 Current board ( looking to add 2-3 additional
members)
 Hibbing High School, ALI, UMD, CliffsNR, USS, BARR
Engineering, Jasper Engineering
 Roy Smith, Moe Benda, Christie Kearney, Julie Varichak,
Tom Jamar, AJ Abate, Carl Sandness
 Collaborative effort between public/private sector
 Purpose is to support and facilitate educational
programs and activities on the Range that promote
awareness of and encourage participation in STEM.
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5. Classes at HHS
 2007:First class was Intro to Engineering ( Pro E based):
 juniors and seniors: taught with the Hibbing Community college.
2014/15 is a combined class of Intro to Eng. with Information
Technology
 2008:FIDEARS ( Fundamentals of industrial design engineering
applications, robotics and sustainability studies)
 hands on class with physics instructor/college instructor/ Industrial
Technology teacher/ robotics/solar/wind power/circuits/hands on.
 3D modeling– with 3D printer
 2012: Information technology: programming class taught in
conjunction with the Hibbing community college.
 2014/15: applied physics
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6. Spring Semester class
Class photo
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7. Programs
 Mentoring night
 Started Fall 2008
 Evening program
 12-22 mostly young practicing engineers
 One on one with students
 Representing major disciplines in our area
 2012 invited representatives from 5-6 colleges
 9-12 grade students from the Iron Range
 Parents invited
 Found mid November the best time
 Open to the whole area– 30-50 students attend
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8. Mentoring Night
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5
10
15
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25
30
35
40
45
50
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
Student participants
Student participants

9.  Engineering cool
 6th grade
 58 students ( 30 in Hibbing/28 in Virginia)
 26 engineering professionals involved plus one teacher
to help keep them focused
 Started 2009 in Hibbing
 Second class now in Virginia
 13 unique sessions after school
 Final day is a field trip to Duluth Children’s Museum
 Note that the first class will be in 10th grade 2013/14
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10. Engineering cool
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11. Job Shadowing day
 11-12 grade students spend ½ day on site with a local
company
 10-12 students/year
 Spring: April/May
 Started: 2010
 6-8 companies participate
(Mining/Power/Aerospace/engineering)
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12. FIRST Lego league
 7-9 the grade students
 Project based/ after school
 Teacher advisor and FIRST advisor
 2014: team advanced to state
 We provide the following to the Hibbing team
 Financial support
 “design” review
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13. FIRST Robotics teams
Provided financial support
for Hibbing's team
Regional competition:
Duluth
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14. Science and Engineering Festival
1200 7th grade students
Location: Minnesota Discovery center
Al Lipke– Tower/Sudan Lab Raptor Center
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15. Science and Engineering Festival
Science Museum CLiffsNR mining
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16. Science and engineering festival
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17. Mind Trekkers
 October 2/3, 2014 in Virginia
 6th grades for first day/open
to public second day
 Video
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18. Future opportunities
 Regionalize:
 mentoring night
 Engineering cool
 Other programs
 Grow grade 5-12 in class opportunities throughout the
school districts
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19. Random Thoughts
 Key: 6-8th grades ( maybe younger?)– 11/12 have
mostly made decisions
 Mystique of how difficult the curriculum is
 Parents involved
 It is a win/win to have the partnership between public
– private sector
 It is a challenge to have the partnership between
public- private sector
 Helps to have a champion
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20. Thank You
 Questions?
Tom Jamar
Jasper Engineering
tdjamar@jaspereng.com
218-262-3421
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