NSF Awards: 1615209
2018 (see original presentation & discussion)
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult learners
14 Elected student Chief Science Officers meet with Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and discuss ways they can impact the community in the areas of water, healthcare, STEM education and economic development.
Courtney Arthur
I am curious to know what skills you have seen students develop as a result of this project. It is such an amazing experience for students at a younger age and it makes me wonder whether it brings about an added level of confidence within their other courses?
Jeremy Babendure
Executive Director
Thank you for the feedback. Students gain skills related to leadership, verbal and oral communications, teamwork and other 21st century skills. We also see tangible outcomes at their schools and community related to their projects.
Dave Barnes
Associate Executive Director
Great to see students engaged and active at the intersection of STEM and policy, where much of the action is these days! Could you share how the program was structured to support these CSOs and some of the specific activities that the CSOs have undertaken as part of this project?
Also can you describe any ongoing collaborations between the CSOs from this work?
Jeremy Babendure
Executive Director
The CSOs go through a 2-3 day leadership institute along with 2-3 regional cabinet meetings. It is at these times students learn skills in the areas of collaboration, communication, leadership, strategic planning and more. Check out more info on the training here.
CSOs forge many collaborations which engage various education, business and community leaders. Many stick with the program as what we call "SciTech Jedi". Some notable ones include Cox Communications, State Farm, Honeywell, Intel, AZ Governor's Office and Dow Chemical. A more comprehensive listing is found here.
Dave Barnes
Associate Executive Director
Thanks Jeremy! Your Overview File sure has a lot of supporting information! Great job!
Louis Gross
Director and Professor
Jeremy et al., Thanks for an invigorating video that illustrates how communicative and knowledgeable students in pre-college can be. I assume there is an entire program that the CSOs share in prior to meetings such as the one in the video with the governor. Can you say something about what has been learned from the activities you have developed that might be readily disseminated and used by diverse school systems? Also I assume there is a rigorous selection process for the CSOs in different schools - has this process also been used as an educational mode to enhance learning about communication and policy for those who are not elected into the program?
Thanks,
Lou
Jeremy Babendure
Executive Director
Yes! What might be the best way to learn is to check out the brochure here. From attitudes and skills with the CSOs to number of students and community members involved in CSO events, the impact can be large.
CSO selection - they are actually ELECTED by their peers. This hopefully gets more students involved and best represents student voice. Schools do vary in how they do their elections.
Those not selected - a key component of the CSO's job is to support STEM activities at their school to reach their peers. They work to engage them in events and activities they find most relevant and exciting to their peers and community.
Louis Gross
Director and Professor
Jeremy, thanks alot for the additional information. Great to know that the CSOs are chosen through an election process and the brochure provides a lot of info on how this has spread to many states. You all should be very proud.
Natasha Smith-Walker
Hey Jeremy,
Really need to figure out how to start this in Chicago! Love how engaged the students are in the process.
Great work!
Natasha
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.