Des Moines – South Central Iowa / Keokuk – Southeast Iowa
STEM Day at the Capitol
On February 19, 2020 students and educators from George Washington Elementary and Keokuk High School were invited to present during STEM Day at the Capitol so legislators could see the impact of programs implemented through the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. The Keokuk Community School District has Scale Up programs in every building from Preschool through high school including Pint Size Science, Engineering is Elementary, STEM In Action, Differentiated Math Centers, Making STEM Connections, Engineering the Future, Computer Science Principles, and Bootstrap Data Science.
State Representative Jeff Kurtz is a big supporter of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and is impressed with STEM implementation is Keokuk. Kurtz took students on a tour of the capitol and said, “You are our future. We are investing in you.” Kristine Bullock, the Southeast Iowa Regional STEM Manager, State Representative Dave Jacoby, and Kurtz have all visited Keokuk classrooms to see STEM programs in action. STEM Council Executive Director Jeff Weld also expressed his appreciation of the efforts and progress to expand opportunities for Keokuk students.
Pictured above, Fifth graders Baylee Billings and Olivia Claus demonstrated the Coding Mouse, which is part of the STEM In Action Scale Up, for Representative Kurtz. Diane Berner piloted this curriculum which is now being used with students as young as kindergarten to introduce computer science concepts.
