TDOE and TSIN Launch Summer STE(A)M Resource Hub
+68K Unique Visitors of All 4 STE(A)M Resource Hubs; Promote Career Pathways
Nashville, TN—This week, the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) announced the launch of the Summer STE(A)M Resource Hub, which begins June 7 and will provide weekly challenges and activities for teachers and families to explore various college, career and technical education (CCTE) pathways with their students throughout the summer.
The Summer STE(A)M Resource Hub builds on the COVID-19 STE(A)M Resource Hub, 2020 Summer STE(A)M Resource Hub, Winter STE(A)M Resource Hub, and the Spring STE(A)M Resource Hub which engaged students with challenges around innovative activities, critical thinking, and career exploration. Since the first STE(A)M resource hub launched over a year ago in April 2020, the hubs have had over 68,000 unique visitors.
"As teachers and students continue learning throughout the summer months, we are thankful to our partners at the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network and network of teachers for creating these fun and engaging activities for teachers, families, and students to learn about career pathway opportunities right here in Tennessee,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “Families and teachers have commented on how valuable these free resources have been to engage students and prepare them for postsecondary success."
The Summer STE(A)M Resource Hub includes three weekly challenges that can be done at home and were created using the science standards framework for Tennessee in partnership with TSIN educators from across the state. The challenges are ideal for students grades 3-12, but younger students can also participate with parental assistance.
The summer challenges continue to focus on #MakerMondayTN, #WonderWednesdayTN, and #FutureFridayTN and enable students to learn about career pathways while building their STE(A)M skills in their own homes. Families and educators are encouraged to share their work on social media using the hashtags as well as #LearningInPlaceTN.
“Continuing the STE(A)M Resource Hub model through the summer of 2021 will provide additional opportunities for students, teachers, and families to experience STE(A)M learning at home,” said Brandi Stroecker, Director of TSIN. “The weekly activity sets are aligned to CCTE programs of study that will expose learners to career pathways that have real promise in our state. Students will also build transferrable skills like problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking that will be of benefit no matter what their interests are.”
Through June and July, the following highlights various CCTE themes that students will learn about while completing the weekly challenges, including:
- June 7- 11: Healthcare
- June 14- 18: Agriculture
- June 21- 25: Business
- June 28- July 2: Digital Arts
- July 5- 9: Information Technology
- July 12- 16: Physical Fitness
- July 19- 23: Architecture
- July 26- 30: Advanced Manufacturing
Each activity comes with step-by-step directions for the activity, additional resources to continue exploring the topic, and an online portal for parents to ask questions and receive additional support.
Teachers who utilized the Spring STE(A)M Resource Hub commented on how beneficials the weekly activities were:
"These resources are so helpful! I am using them as hands-on activities for summer school. I'm saving a lot of time on lesson planning." - 6th Grade Tennessee Teacher
"I liked the varied activities by CTE cluster and accessibility to a variety of hands-on, offline, and online learning experiences for my students. Thank you!" - 8th Grade Tennessee Teacher
For additional information on career and technical education, click here. For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov.
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