Good Morning Jan, 

     I am a science teacher at Washington Academy and STEM/SPIN Club/4H teacher through the guide program. I work with Sandy Copel-Parsons. I just submitted a paper in regards to the shift in representation and the effect it is having on our young men. The focus for so long now has been to encourage young women into the field in order to create equity. Now what I see is  that our young men are suffering. Washington County is full of bright, energetic students with that great "Down East" ingenuity and attitude. What our are needs are programs to continue to cultivate and foster these young minds. I teach Integrated Science and host STEM/SPIN clubs after school a few times a year. I have found, more often than not, that most students entering high school (both male and female) have had extremely limited experiences in the field of science and technology. I spend nine weeks in this course bringing them all up to speed and getting their love of science re-ignited. I have two teams attending Kleinschmidt Wind Challenge on Friday and I'm happy to say we are well represented with both a boys and girls team. Next week I am taking them to Jackson Lab. Showing the students what opportunities are available to them beyond Washington County is critical. 

Hi Dawn, and thanks for writing!  First, you're absolutely right about finding more opportunities beyond Washington County, and Jackson Lab is a great one, because kids get to see a major institution with many exciting labs.  Another thing we did on the project was develop a resource bank on STEM for all of Maine.  https://mmsa.org/stem-resource-bank/.  The Connectory has developed a similar one nationwide, and includes many virtual opportunities.  

Second, the issue about involving *boys* is very real, at least in our area.  About 70-75% of students in small public universities like UMaine Machias are women, and boys are less likely to consider going to college.  As you know, it's partly that they see the short term Big Money in fishing, but that's as tenuous a career as professional sports.  I wonder what you've done to convince more of your high school boys that college is an important next step?

Jan I couldn't agree with you more. My husband is a lobster/scallop fisherman and admits that we need to do more to encourage our youth to look into what college or tech schools have to offer. I believe that the sea is so ingrained in the DNA of these young men they feel it is almost their "duty" to continue to fish despite either wanting another career path or knowing that the fishing industry is not what it used to be.  

What I try to do to encourage my boys to look into college is talking to them about ways they can educate themselves and return to the area (if they so wish) and help their community. I explain to them that education is a gift you give yourself, and no one can take that away from you. If you want to go to college and then be a fisherman...GREAT.. do it... but have the education to back you when times may get tough.  Getting them involved after school with the STEM/SPIN clubs and really just talking to them and finding out what their interests are and running with it from there. 

Good Morning Jan, 

I"m a science and STEM teacher at Washington Academy. I recently wrote a paper in regards to the shift in representation in STEM. I'm finding more and more young men at risk in our area. The focus for so long has been on the equity of STEM education for our girls that the boys are now suffering. I work with Sandy Parsons to try to facilitate as many after school SPIN clubs as possible. I also encourage my students to participate and explore opportunities outside of Washington County. This week I have two teams going to Kleinshmidt to compete in the Wind Challenge. The following week I am taking a group to Jackson Lab. My classroom is a very "hands-on" STEM based environment and students (male and female) who entered hating science, at least leave with a slightly better appreciation, if not a full on love for it. 

These issues have so many more layers and complexities than we think.  Thank you for bringing attention to this dynamic.  I don't know all the twists, but I do know the path forward involves finding ways for young women and men to see and to celebrate the beauty of STEM and to see its rigor and goodness to be a natural expectation of growing up and becoming an adult, living with STEM instead of avoiding it.  No matter how one addresses the causes, that must be part of the pathway out for a society that is repairing its gender-related crises in STEM participation.

Thanks Linda! Yes, that's exactly the goal. 

In terms of evaluation, it's been a big learning experience for us in terms of what's feasible methodologically in these communities. We tried surveys and phone interviews of various kinds, but found that it was surprisingly difficult to engage families to talk about the STEM connections they followed up on: Either they didn't respond to our requests to talk with them (even when encouraged by the STEM Guide) or those that were willing to talk to us seemed to have very little to say. We don't know if that's because they didn't follow up on connections very much, or didn't think of STEM opportunities as "everywhere" the way we do, or haven't had a chance to follow up on next steps that might only happen months or years later, or don't see themselves as providing their children with "STEM trajectories" as much as fun episodic learning experiences of all kinds, or ... (many possibilities!)  But the result was that those conversations tended to feel uncomfortable, whether we spoke with the youth or the parents or both, and we didn't want them to feel they'd failed in some way. So, after trying some variations, we dropped them as a systematic approach.

On the plus side, we have been able to track the participation of individual youth in a number of STEM events in the communities, and we've captured many of the opportunistic connections and youth responses through regular interviews with the STEM Guides themselves. So our impacts are mostly through the lens of the Guides.

Hi Sue,

So nice to see a video about your STEM Guide program! We have had similar experiences with interviews (particularly with kids) in the Synergies project. Some kids love to talk about their STEM experiences and some seem very uncomfortable. I wonder if parents would respond better in a focus group environment--strength in numbers?

Hi Nancy,

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for your comment and suggestion. Yes we tried focus groups too - in fact that's what we ended up with as a community default. Still, we found it hard to get people to come out to just a focus group (even with a meal and/or stipend) so we tried to make it short and tag it on the end of something else, like a STEM event in the Hub or a celebration to honor the STEM Guides at the end. And I still felt disappointed by our ability to get parents talking about the trajectories idea - maybe because it's such a different mindset for many people that they seem to default into "yes our kids really enjoyed the program(s)." 

Hopefully your Synergies project will move the needle even further!

Thanks for your questions and it would be great to hear more about your project.  We strive to find STEM Guides who know about their communities, have worked with kids, and are interested in (but not necessarily expert in) STEM.  When they come on board, they need to learn about STEM resources in their communities, and most importantly--how and where to connect with kids and parents.  As we think about the ecosystem, we want STEM Guides to connect across multiple organizations/programs, which is a challenge because they usually represent one organization.  They may be used to thinking about connecting kids to the next program in *their* organization, and we encourage them to connect kids with other organizations' programs.  It's not disloyal to do this---it's essential for kids!

Hi Betsy -  An important question, as online communications and online STEM activities are becoming increasingly important ways of bringing STEM learning to isolated youth and organizations. In this project we use technology in two significant ways. Part of our work with the STEM Guides is to foster peer to peer learning and interaction. Coming together as a group of professionals isn't always easy, but at times was necessary. This last year we have met more frequently using the Zoom platform, in part because the two Hubs we are working with are the farthest apart; one in the western mountains and one at Maine's far eastern edge. These are somewhat shorter meetings and focused on fewer topics than our day long, in person retreats. The Guides themselves also have been introducing a number of online STEM programs into their Hubs - whether it be the NASA 3D challenge, scratch programming in robotics clubs, Family Code nights - and they have utilized the plentiful "activity and program" materials online (e.g. Teen Science Cafes, howtosmile.org, Engineering if Everywhere, etc.). They don't tend to interact with the kids online, however, (other than follow-up communications) as we really stress the in person relationship building. I almost forgot - our STEM Guides also utilize the Maine STEM Resource Bank (powered by the Connectory) to help them find programs that may meet a particular family or student interest. MMSA current curates this searchable database of OST STEM opportunities. 

Hi Jamie, We're part of the STEM Funders' Ecosystem project, and there has been interest within that group.  However, almost all of the ecosystems are much bigger.  We're getting together a few people to talk about just these issues of "small scale rural" in the fall. 

Hi Jamie - I'm hoping that other states end of replying to your question directly.

I can say, however, that I've spoken to several colleagues about their interest in the model. More often they express the need for youth and families to get connected to STEM opportunities, and then I share our model with them. (We are doing much more dissemination this year than in years past.) I also hear folks describe how an individual changed their life by stepping forward and "brokering" an opportunity for them. When I share how we are formalizing that role, they are intrigued and supportive. I've also heard about an electronic version (a kiosk of sorts) being piloted in Baltimore through Digital Harbors. It is not exactly the same focus (i.e. more on careers/internships than out-of-school), but the basic idea is related and intriguing as it has an AI twist. 

Jamie and Jan, 

 The STEM Ecosystem Community of Practice is an option that we as a CoP keep watching however, the requirement that they be situated at that non-profits or educational institutions apply.  Those operating in rural areas are hard pressed to fill this requirement with staff to coordinate beyond their own mission. 

  The structure of a Community of Practice into serving in this  human role is still a challenge.  We can attract funding for stipends, create community supported projects, however the type of expertise that a Guile must have...of balancing policies with resources is uniquely a perpetual one in natural resource rich locations.  This is where the grassroots meets top down in connecting STEM.

The good news is  that communication technology can be  blind to gender, age and even generally location.  We have used online but are also now working with a Kiosk similar to Baltimore's within common buildings.   These will be able to solve the privacy issues also involved between institutional designs.   Looking for more top down interest in the platform to assist the human needs.  

Hi Betsy, I'm glad to hear that you are part of the STEM Ecosystem CoP. In interacting with that group, what challenges unique to the rural environment have you identified?

Hi Betsy - No we don't have any formal labels, as a badging system would. And it seems like no two kids really connect to new resources in the same way.  For some it is just a matter of introducing them to OST STEM for the first time. For others it may be finding a "next step" which could take many different forms based on their ability to access the opportunity or their interest in it. So it could be something they do at home, or another club, or a program at the library, or a summer camp. If anything, the paths seem very individual and somewhat unpredictable. 

And yes, the Guides themselves do start up programming where there is a real gap. The idea is to jumpstart ideas in the community - and engage as many others as possible in making it happen. Also - as part of the project we require that Guides not invent their own activities or programs but use readily-available, well-vetted models. That way - the activities/programs are much easier to hand-off after our project ends. Junior Solar Sprint has been a popular choice among Guides that see the need to add an engineering competition into the mix. Another great program for teens that we've introduced to hubs is the Teen Science Cafe model. What is particularly great about his model is that it creates a way to engage community-based STEM professionals  - so kids can connect not to just a program but also to people in their community who are STEM professionals. 

Hi, Sue!

Piggybacking on Margaret's question, I am wondering about the extent to which STEM Guides (or other adults involved in the program) create learning pathways for individual learners? That is, would a Guide be the person who connects a girl interested in robotics with a computer science camp located the next town over? Or, do they operate on more of an organizational level, helping to broker partnerships?

Hi Kalie and Margaret, 

I am one of the researchers on the project and tracking and following pathways is something we have thought a lot about with few solutions that are not too invasive or, like Sue says, too tedious and complex. Yes, the guides both connect individual youth to opportunities and brokers partnerships between orgs ins service to the former objective.

Many of the partnerships we work with are pre-exisitng in rural areas where there may be only a few orgs working with youth and informal STEM learning; but, the guides do seem to provide more connective tissue for these partnerships and organizations have seen the advantages of working together with the guides. 

Tracking learners is a "wicked" problem as we would say in New England. But, the event sign-ins that we capture prove to be an interesting dataset where we can examine an individual's "path" through various activities and events. We are starting to look at how type of event (technology-focused or drop-in science activity) may have an affect on pathways over time--attending more events and program extant (duration of event, e.g. camp or science fair). 

Tracking youth long-term is something beyond our project's capacity but would be a good future research project--several confounding issues I can think of around measuring dosage, ease of tracking related to background (income, race, etc.), and accounting for privacy issues. Luckily tracking STEM guides is much easier given they are adults, and the Maine informal STEM network is a "small-world network,"--we are still in contact with many of our former guides. 

You nailed it, Maureen!  And yes, I think there's some research on this "loyalty" issue within organizations! :)  Downeast Maine is small enough so that our Guides usually have worked (or are currently working) for more than one STEM-related organization, or their partner is employed by another STEM organization.  That keeps it a little more fluid, and certainly cross-fertilizes the organizational work.  For us, the problem has been more with the limited amount of funding and how it is distributed to organizations.  

Thank you Jennifer!  Sounds like a great program!

Yes we do. We've been able to support their participation in local and national workshops as well as STEM conferences. We also encourage them to seek out webinars and some have taken advantage of online coaching for afterschool educators which MMSA offers through its ACRES project. 

Yes - looking forward to it. Although interestingly I think someone commented here that they see it as applicable to urban communities, which is really intriguing to me!

Well, STEM Guides could be a new profession!  It's interesting and innovative for these Guides, especially those who like working with kids.  Here are a few recommendations/things we learned:

1) You need to pay Guides, and we are paying between $15 - $20 per hour.  At first, we thought it could be a volunteer role, but even retired professionals wanted the respect that comes with paid work.

2) The professional development is a major draw for them:  They learn more about STEM in their communities, and with this knowledge comes respect from community members.  Getting them together to share strategies for connecting with kids/families is key! We often brought in community STEM people to talk with them, which was an important learning opportunity.

3) One of the most challenging, but ultimately satisfying, tasks for STEM Guides was to use existing resources, which we called "STEM Gift Packages." A lot of folks wanted to create their own kits and resources, but when we showed them Teen Science Cafe Network,  Engineering Is Everywhere, and other great NSF resources, most of them got excited about these resources.  A critical piece is not reinventing the wheel with resources!

Hi Preeti, 

Thanks for your enthusiastic interest! It'd be great to see how the idea translates to urban settings. 

I do just want to say that being a STEM Guide isn't easy and isn't for everyone - we've learned that the most successful ones have many overlapping assets: they're community-embedded, credible and well-liked, currently connected with youth in some way, passionate about STEM, and informed about STEM opportunities (learnable), but also entrepreneurial and opportunistic in making connections where none existed. That can be tough for people who are shy, or just reluctant to intrude or put their social capital on the line. It's almost a type of community-organizing, to be pro-active building new synergies, both with youth and with local organizations. 

Another potential limitation is the nature of the community in which they work. Sometimes the community organizations can be resistant to the fundamental idea of working together, and can even see themselves as competitors; in those cases, the STEM Guides can work very hard and feel they aren't getting very far. 

Lastly, there's a big boot-strapping challenge: A big part of the frontier nature of the work is that it's based on a mindset of catalyzing connections (brokering) per se, and that's not the typical mindset in education. Typically the families expect the STEM Guides to provide STEM programs, and so do the Guides themselves at first, and the partner organizations and other stakeholders. It's such a dominant paradigm in out-of-school STEM investments: provide programs. The Guides feel that pressure all the time. And some of what they do is providing programs, but always trying to move beyond that to leveraging connections and helping youth take next-steps.

Agreed - working with communities or schools to engage them in changes in practice and perspective is organic and fluid. Knowing what research methods are going to work best does have a real trial and error aspect!

Good to know! For a number of year's MMSA also worked with IEEE on a similarly named program. It focused on professional engineers working with classrooms in southern, Maine. I've asked my colleague from MMSA to come online this weekend and say a bit more about it. 

Oh, yes, that comes up a lot!  For example, there weren't many existing educational resources on emergency management (at least not for high school students.)  So we used an existing *structure* (Teen Science Cafes) and brought in local experts in EM to these Cafes.  We helped these (mostly) guys figure out how to highlight the STEM in their work.  

We're constantly asking ourselves how we could use existing "STEM gift packages", especially in the cases where the resources exist but are not present in our rural areas!  We did bring in gift packages---we just didn't invent them.

Thanks for sharing that example.   Fire departments include a close tie with EMT's and are paid in urban locations, however largely volunteer in rural locations.  This is an interesting gap between rural and urban perceptions of a career.   I wonder if there are other careers that have that same gap.  Unions and apprenticeships generally start at 18 however that is changing with job shadowing...but even with the shadowing the public rural perception of this job would be different from the urban role.

This is great to know Neil! I also want to share with the guides you video on using minecraft to explore "what if"  questions about astronomical impacts on Earth . When possible the Guides do connect students to these kinds of opportunities - i.e. library talks and walks. I will be sure to have them lookout for you. 

Thanks Jamie!

The gender separation also has engaged my interest and been part of the research on fair access to “STEM Literacy”. This challenge begins before we have options to intervene...and well before technology integration.

Physical differences in the eyes of males and females regarding how we see should be thought about as it relates to spatial differences.  Changes in black and white that are due to movement are more developed in males while cells that differentiate by color are more numerous in the female eye structure.  Females have gained by their joining into sports and other activities that build their multiple level view.  Good research can be found in Making Space, The Development of Spatial Representation and Reasoning (Newcombe and Huttenlocher)

Thank-you Claire!  Through my lens as a STEM guide, I have witnessed  direct connections ensuring that youth within our county have more than "one-shot" STEM experiences.  Connecting the dots between existing local events, libraries, after school programs, libraries, on- line resources and 4-H have helped create a sustainable STEM foundation here in DownEast Maine.