Round Rock ISD’s proximity to leading high-tech, health care, education, and manufacturing enterprises directly related to STEM afford our staff access to dynamic educator professional development opportunities.
Through a partnership with Texas State University – Round Rock, 21 District K-12 teachers attended a STEM-for-All professional development day designed to build and educate diverse pipelines of future scientists and STEM leaders. Our educators immersed themselves in NASA’s Artemis Mission to establish a base camp on the moon. Following the workshop, Round Rock ISD educators adapted the STEM-For-All experiences specific to their K-12 classroom goals and student grade level.
“I am excited to use NASA’s Artemis Missions to get and keep my students interested in space science now and in the future,” said Joseph Ivanenok, Stony Point High School career and technical education teacher.
The STEM-For-All project aims to promote comfortable and effective daily community interactions regardless of age or aspirations with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
“It feels like the curiosity of space science has been renewed,” said Sema Adkar, Deerpark Middle School science department chair. “NASA’s degree of being culturally responsive is commendable, and it restores my hopes and dreams about being an astronaut or visiting the International Space Station one day.”
Representative John Carter (TX-31) and Texas State University announced $1 million in funding for the Round Rock campus’ STEM-for-All Partnership. Congressman Carter secured these funds in the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations bill. The STEM-for-All Partnership aligns with some of Texas State University’s strengths, including community engagement along the Texas Innovation Corridor; and research with relevance that helps improve Texas’s educational and economic health.
