 Last year, the Iowa STEM Summit welcomed around 500 teachers, students and community partners for a full-day of learning, conversation and connection.
Over 40 breakout sessions featured 70 speakers including around 30 students! Sessions, panels and workshops about coding, internships, STEM fields and careers, grant writing, artificial intelligence and more, helped generate ideas and kick-start conversations for collaboration in Iowa communities.
Iowa STEM invites presenters to pick-up where we left off and move the conversation forward. Educators, administrators, students and community leaders are encouraged to share proposals that elevate opportunities in STEM education, address challenges and foster collaboration statewide.
The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council at the Iowa Department of Education is awarding 17 STEM BEST® Program model schools a total of over $300,000 to help bring real-world STEM learning opportunities to life for Iowa students this summer. Through STEM BEST® Explore, Iowa schools can offer opportunities that expand on the work that STEM BEST® Program models are already doing during the school year.
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“After last year’s successful pilot of STEM BEST® Explore, we are excited to see this unique opportunity expand to even more schools and communities across Iowa," said Tanya Hunt, STEM BEST® Program coordinator. "Connecting students with real-world experiences is a hallmark of STEM BEST®. This additional funding boosts career exploration and builds skills for student participants while deepening the impact of the program’s build-in support system.”
STEM BEST® Explore, an opportunity for existing STEM BEST® Program models, extends work-based and career-connected learning opportunities for students into the summer. Offering these opportunities outside of the traditional school year allows model schools to reach students who may not otherwise be available to participate due to scheduling constraints or other commitments.
Through an application and review process, 17 STEM BEST® Program models have been awarded up to $20,000 each to put toward a summer learning experience in their district.
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STEM BEST® Explore is an opportunity for existing STEM BEST® models. Through the STEM BEST® (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) Program, students and teachers work closely with local workplaces and professionals to introduce and prepare learners for future success in their communities. By helping schools identify and anticipate local workforce needs in collaboration with business professionals, the STEM BEST® Program aims to strengthen Iowa’s future workforce through the development and expansion of work-based learning and career exploration opportunities. |
More information on the STEM BEST® Program and STEM BEST® Explore is available on the STEM BEST webpage.
Summer placements are underway for the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program. Last year, a record 86 teachers externs and 76 workplace hosts participated. We are on pace to exceed these records again in summer 2026, but we need your help connecting workplaces and teachers across the state.
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Teachers needed for interested workplace hosts:
- Engineering or industrial technology teachers near Independence, Decorah, Emmetsburg, Armstrong
- Agriculture teachers near Cresco, Dubuque, Macksburg, Coon Rapids, Lehigh
- Science teachers near Dubuque, Coon Rapids, Lehigh, Armstrong
- Business teachers near Farley, Dubuque, Macksburg, Armstrong
Workplaces needed for interested teacher Externs:
- Welding, auto tech or metalworking near Cedar Falls
- Near Orange City
- Marketing, business or engineering in the Des Moines metro
- Business, accounting or finance in the Quad Cities area
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If you know of a teacher or workplace host that might fill one of these spots, reach out to Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program coordinator Ann Gritzner at ann.gritzner@iowa.gov to learn more and get the ball rolling.
National Robotics Week was celebrated earlier this month. Robotics was on full display at the annual Iowa Regional FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), recently held at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
This competition brought together over 50 FRC teams and hundreds of students from across the Midwest and beyond. Teams have six weeks prior to the competition to design, build and program a robot to play a game that changes each year. For 2026, the challenge included navigating a field with obstacles to maneuver balls and shoot them into a raised bin. Following a series of randomized qualification matches, alliances were formed for the remainder of the competition. |
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“This is a team sport, it’s not one-on-one, it’s three-on-three, so what can we do to make our alliance better?” said Martin Nemaric, middle school mathematics teacher at Ogden and coach for the Tower Robotics team #9092.
The Tower Robotics team took an outside-the-box approach to this year’s challenge. In a game that scores points by getting balls into the basket, team #9092 developed a robot that cannot shoot. Instead, it features an oversized hopper that can hold several more balls than other robots, making it a sought-after alliance partner for teams with robots that shoot well but may not be able to corral balls as quickly.
“It’s been a great conversation to have with the kids. One student even asked, ‘Do we want to be average and normal or do we want to go out there and do something weird?’” Nemaric said. "It's a team sport, so you find your niche.”
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One team found their niche in developing software that utilizes artificial intelligence to scan markers around the game field, helping the robot “see” various game pieces and play the game more efficiently.
“We developed it with a team from California. It’s been an on-and-off project for about two years,” said Cole Berberich, a freshman with the Wildcard Robotics team #4646 out of Polk City. “I work on a lot of automation and things like that to make the driver’s life easier as well as our auto[nomous].”
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The FIRST enterprise is composed of three levels from First Lego League (FLL) to First Tech Challenge (FTC) to First Robotics Challenge.
“I just really like how young it starts and how old it goes,” said Aiden Ries, sophomore with the Swartdogs team #525 out of Cedar Falls and FIRST Regional Ambassador. “Every kid plays with Legos. They already know what they are doing, so FLL is a nice way to introduce them to problem-solving and ways to think about things mechanically. When you go up to the next level, it starts to turn more into a competition where you are building a functioning robot."
FTC is a current program offering on the STEM Scale-Up Program menu. Educators will have additional opportunities to apply for the program as it is anticipated to be offered through the 2028-29 school year, supporting both new and veteran schools with materials and additional professional development for coaches.
“Everyone does what they want to do, there’s a spot for everyone,” Aiden said. ”Even if you don’t like robots or know how to code, there’s still a lot of things that you can do. We’ve got logistics, awards, outreach, can drives, we do food banks, we do a lot of things.”
Student participants learn technical and life skills including programming, CAD, marketing, business planning, writing, outreach and event planning, building design and public speaking. Iowa now has 30 FRC teams, representing rural, suburban and urban schools.
“It’s more than building robots; these kids are running a small team,” said Jeff Margrett, regional director for FIRST in Iowa and Nebraska. "We’re producing the next wave of engineers. We’re producing the next workforce.”
 One STEM BEST Program model, METRO STEAM Academy, is partnering with the North Central Region of the Astronomical League and The Cedar Amateur Astronomers (CAA) to host the Eastern Iowa Cosmic Conference on Saturday, May 16 from 1-4 pm at the Double Tree in downtown Cedar Rapids.
METRO STEAM Academy invites teachers and students across Iowa to attend the conference's Track 2 where attendees will enjoy short talks, interactive demonstrations, hands-on activities, a portable planetarium, telescope displays and a weather balloon launch by the STEAM Academy.
Track 2 is designed to be affordable and welcoming, with NASA Solar System Ambassadors assisting in planning and delivery. Participants can make it a full day by attending the free Shapley Lecture at 10:45 a.m. where you can hear Dr. Ryan French from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder, CO, give a talk on Space Hazards. Participants may also join the optional Sunday tours.
Visit the event webpage for more information and to register. Questions can be directed to Gordon Baustian, gordonbaustian@gmail.com with CAA or Chuck Tonelli, mtonelli@crschools.us from the METRO STEAM Academy.
 STEMsights is written by members of the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council’s Youth Ambassador group. This is their space to share insight and ideas on STEM events and initiatives important to Iowa students, written by Iowa students.
The State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa (SSTFI) was held March 26-27 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. This statewide event brings together students in grades 6-12 to showcase their research, innovation, and problem-solving skills in STEM. This year, five Iowa STEM Youth Ambassadors competed and presented their original research projects, demonstrating dedication to scientific inquiry and real-world impact.
Youth Ambassador Claire Lu, a junior at Ames High School, along with her sister Chloe, competed in the microbiology category. Their project was on building a circular life cycle for polylactic acid recycling and degradation. During the awards ceremony, they were shocked to hear that they were named the Senior High Grand Champions.
“Preparing for this competition was stressful initially. We had to troubleshoot a lot and were uncertain about the completion of our project,” said Claire. “But the competition itself was a great experience. I was able to build connections with so many like-minded peers across the state.”
Another Iowa STEM Youth Ambassador, Eva George, presented her project about a specific signaling molecule called Interleukin-7 and its effects on mouse lymphoma cancer with her peers Jessica and Bella. She described the experience as both “enriching and valuable,” noting that it challenged her to communicate her scientific findings effectively to a diverse range of audiences. Additionally, through having her research questioned by a variety of judges, she felt that she “gained a deeper understanding of handling questions, and learning to admit when something was out of [her] reach.”
Also presenting at SSTFI were Youth Ambassadors Rachel Besaw, Erin Chen, and Elise Smith. Rachel, a senior at Sheldon High School participated in the engineering category of the SSTFI with her partner Emma. Their group “had lots of fun” presenting their work and preparing for judge's comments and critiques. Erin, a junior at Iowa City West High School, presented her research on the application of Ifi30, an enzyme with the potential to drastically reduce cardiovascular disease. She received a $2500 in-state or $1000 out-of-state scholarship and won third place in the biomedical category. Elise, a junior at Waukee Northwest High School, presented her research on the nitrates in Iowa’s water and their impact on cancer rates in different parts of Iowa. As a result of her research, she won the Agriventure Scholarship and the InVitro Special Award.
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SSTFI provides an invaluable opportunity for students to share their research, receive feedback from experts, and grow as young scientists and engineers. With over 600 students from across Iowa participating each year, the fair represents one of the state’s most competitive and impactful STEM events. The participation of Iowa STEM Youth Ambassadors highlights the dedication, curiosity, and collaboration that define this experience, showing how exploration and presentation help prepare students for future academic and professional success.
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Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council
Iowa Department of Education
214 East Bartlett Hall
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0298
515-335-1531
info@IowaSTEM.org
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