Mission

The K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Outreach Community of Interest's mission is to promote and support pathways to STEM degrees and STEM careers for K-12 students as part of the national strategic effort to produce more STEM professionals for the nation.

Vision
The K-12 STEM Outreach Committee provides for the security of the nation by ensuring a robust STEM workforce.

Scope
K-12 students need to be exposed to STEM activities, degrees, and careers as they move up the academic ladder. The committee will work with the network of Posts, individual members, sustaining members, service branches, and strategic partners to increase opportunities for STEM exposure for K-12 students. The COI will also promote the Society’s STEM programming at local, regional, and national events, as resources allow.

Charter
The COI charter frames the work of the COI. Click here to view it.

Activities

  • Categorize different examples of how the Post/individuals support K-12 STEM at the local level
  • Identify and provide guest speakers/webinars on relevant topics
  • Serve as a clearinghouse of STEM information
  • Provide a calendar of STEM (SAME/Post and external) events and points of contacts

To learn more about the K-12 STEM Outreach Community of interest, contact a member of the executive committee, or reach out to Jeannine FintonSTEM Coordinator.


Join the Community of Interest

You can join any of our communities of interest by logging into your member profile and scrolling down to “Communities of Interest” and click to join.”

 

Spotlight

Read the interview COI Chair Liza Grudin, P.E., President, NovelEsolutions, Inc., on how the COI is collaborating with other organizations to develop STEM professionals, how it’s meeting challenges to engage today’s youth with STEM, and how her own STEM journey inspires her to give back to the next generation of leaders.

Read the interview on the SAME Bricks & Clicks blog

COI Executive Community

Community Chair

Liza Grudin, PE, ME, ENV SP
President, NovelEsolutions, Inc.

View Liza's leadership profile

 

Community Chair-elect

Joshua A. Graham, P.E., PMP
Project Manager, HDR

View Joshua's leadership profile

Vice-chair, Strategic Alliances

Jeffrey L. Leonard, PE, CFPS, FSAME
Systems Engineer, US Air Force Research Lab

View Jeffrey's leadership profile

Executive Committee

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Liaison: Victoria Hernandez, Environmental Manager, Jacobs

Awards and Recognition Liaison: Traci Dewar, CFM, Deputy Director, 1st Special Ops Mission Support Group, US Air Force 

Camps COI Liaison: Erin Krug, Structural Engineer, US Army Corps of Engineers

College Outreach Liaison: Thad Tobaben, Business Development, Kiewit Engineering Group, Inc.

Enlisted Member COI Liaison: TSgt Eric Tucker, Exterior Electrical Systems, Minot AFB

 

Community Wide Conference Calls

The K-12 STEM Outreach COI will convene a community-wide call every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 3pm Eastern.

Join us to hear the latest news from the COI and let us know what you and your Post have been doing to promote STEM.

To access the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/423325557

You can also dial in using your phone.
United States (Toll Free): 1 866 899 4679
United States: +1 (571) 317-3116

Access Code: 423-325-557

Community Call Archive -- 

June 2022 | DoD STARBASE:
Camps and Mentoring for the underserved

STARBASE Academies provide 25 hours of hands-on STEM activities, using a curriculum that meets or exceeds the National Standards. STARBASE also has a mentoring program for middle school students. Find out how you can get involved and hear about other K12 activities across SAME.
Video Recording (YouTube) | Slides (PDF)


April 2022 | Challenger Centers

STEM education organization reaching over 250,000 annually. They develop and deliver experiential STEM education program that bring STEM subjects to life and inspire students to pursue STEM careers.
Video Recording (YouTube) | Slides (PDF)


October 2021 | How to Talk about Engineering:
6 Elements to Make Your Presentation Your Best Presentation

Guest Speaker:  Dr. Nehemiah Mabry, STEMedia.
Video recording (YouTube) | Slides (PDF)


September 2021 | Public Libraries as Outreach Partners

Video recording (YouTube) | Slides (PDF)

 

Student Members

Student members represent the next generation of innovative STEM thinkers ready to take on society’s challenges. Recognizing the need to cultivate this valuable asset, SAME offers FREE membership to all full-time students enrolled in high school, 2-year or 4-year colleges and universities (through the undergraduate level), trade schools, and military academies.  As emerging professionals, you benefit from an array of programs meant to support your academic and professional development.

Learn more about student membership.

Join SAME as a student member.

 

Scholarships

The SAME Strategic Plan challenges SAME members and Posts to “lead efforts to inspire, encourage, and enable youth to pursue STEM careers; and help the technical capacity that our national needs to remain globally competitive.” 

The Society does this by cultivating a robust student membership. Student members represent the next generation of innovative STEM thinkers ready to take on society’s challenges. Through scholarships, SAME makes an investment in student members to keep them on a path to a STEM career.

SAME Posts collectively award more than $1.2 million annually for academic scholarships to student members. Click here to learn more.

 

STEM Partnerships

In support of its mission to “lead collaborative efforts to identify and resolve national security infrastructure-related challenges,” SAME seeks to establish relationships with organizations representing key stakeholders or STEM programming. These relationships would bring together professionals from different technical disciplines to create opportunities for members and Posts to benefit from and participate in STEM related activities. Organizations wishing to formalize the relationship can become a strategic partner of SAME.

Through the leadership of the Vice-chair for Strategic Partnerships, the K-12 STEM Community of Interest will identify relationships that can benefit your members, Post, Region, or program.


 

Current Relationships

ACE Mentor Program. Founded in 1994, the ACE Mentor Program of America (ACE) is a free, award-winning, after-school program designed to attract high school students into pursuing careers in the Architecture, Construction and Engineering industry, including skilled trades. ACE is a federation of more than 70 affiliates (chapters), operating in 37 states and largely based in metropolitan areas, which deliver the program. A national office coordinates and assists affiliates. Click their profile for an in-depth view and learn how to engage. To learn more, view the August 2020 COI community-wide call featuring Diana Eidenshink, President, ACE Mentor Program, deidenshink@acementor.org.
Video recording (YouTube link)
Slides (PDF)

DiscoverE. DiscoverE is the backbone organization behind Engineers Week (established 1951),  Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (established in 2001), World Engineering Day (established in 2016, formerly known as Global Day of the Engineer), the Global Marathon (established in 2005), and the Future City Competition (established in 1993). DiscoverE programs and resources have been adopted and adapted by individuals and organizations around the globe. Click their profile for an in-depth view and learn how to engage!

MATHCOUNTS. The MATHCOUNTS Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that reaches students in grades 6-8 in all U.S. states and territories with fun extracurricular math programs. More than 160,000 students participate in MATHCOUNTS each year. MATHCOUNTS runs 3 programs—the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series, National Math Club and Math Video Challenge—and also creates numerous free math resources, available a www.mathcounts.org. Click their profile for an in-depth view and learn how to engage!

National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS). A strategic partner of SAME, the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS) was established in 1988 to provide a forum for specialized secondary schools focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to exchange information and program ideas.  Posts are encouraged to engage member schools directly and reference this MOA to share opportunities and expand the aperture of STEM careers for our youth.  This partnership represents another tool for developing future engineers through the STEM pipeline. Click here to see the MOA. Click their profile for an in-depth view and learn how to engage!  Click here to see the list of schools by state.

SkillsUSA. SkillsUSA empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. We improve the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the development of SkillsUSA Framework skills that include personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics. Our vision is to produce the most highly skilled workforce in the world, providing every member the opportunity for career success. Click their profile for an in-depth view and learn how to engage!  For state and local competitions, please contact state association director covering your state.

Facilithon is one of many programs offered by SkillsUSA. Participating students get to think like a facility manager, creating a new wellhead of talent in the 400,000-strong student organization (club) space.   Volunteer a few hours with Facilithon and meet our next Gen of FM!  To sign up as a volunteer in your state visit www.fmpipeline.org or call 612-426-7227. State events run April through May, followed by the national competition during June in Atlanta, GA


STEM Camps

SAME has been supporting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through camps for almost 20 years.

SAME camps feature a very impressive record of producing thousands of engineers and STEM leaders. They provide a rigorous experience for students interested in exploring STEM skills and careers. Campers gain a sense of what it takes to become a STEM professional and what options exist to explore that interest from high school to college and beyond. Each camp has a unique curriculum that generally features hands-on activities conducted in a competitive environment that promote teamwork, leadership, project management, and problem solving.

Learn about detailed information about the camp program.

 

  • About Us
  • National and Regional Competitions & Events
  • STEM Related Organizations
  • STEM Resources
  • STEM Activities
  • STEM Corner Reprints
  • Archive: COI-wide Calls

Through the work of the K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Outreach Community of Interest, the Society promotes and supports pathways to STEM degrees and STEM careers for K-12 students as part of the national priority to produce the STEM professionals needed to secure the nation.

Students need to be exposed to STEM activities as they move up the academic ladder if we expect them to stay on a path toward a STEM degree and career. The COI will work with the network of Posts, individual members, sustaining members, service branches, and strategic partners to increase opportunities for STEM exposure for K-12 students. The K-12 STEM Outreach Community of Interest work feeds into the Society’s college outreach efforts to provide a continuous level of support along student’s academic trajectory.

Attracting Future Engineers

The demand for engineers is rising. Yet we are faced with discouraging statistics on the number of students considering engineering careers, and disappointing math and science scores that place U.S. students’ performance below many industrialized nations. America is simply not going to have the engineers it needs to stay competitive and remain a world a leader in innovation without more investment. Our professions must be able to reach out to our young students to excite, attract and interest them in careers in engineering and related fields.

Supporting Students Today
We can do this by lending support to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs that inspire future generations of engineers. Within SAME, our Posts have had many successful K-12 programs and Engineer Week activities. Our focus on STEM will pull it all together and expand our successes in more and different ways including school visits, STEM-related programs, science fairs, inspirational mentoring, and more.

 

 

Aspirations in Computing,The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), is a coalition of more than 300 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase women's participation in technology and computing.

Broadcom MASTERS® (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering as Rising Stars), is a program of Society for Science & the Public. It conducts a middle school science and engineering fair competition offering a $25,000 top award.

eCYBERMISSION is a web-based, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition free for students in grades 6-9 offered by the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP). 

FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics competition run by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). It challenges teams of 25 students (grades 9-12) or more to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program a robot to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors.

Game-a-thon Open to K-12 students nationwide, the Game-a-thon challenges students to design, build and share a game that features creative and unusual solutions to mathematical problems. Teams of one or more students, along with a teacher or parent in a coordinator role, can invent card games, board games, apps, outdoor games or anything else that addresses a mathematical topic ranging from counting to irrational numbers to measurement to modeling.

Junior FIRST® LEGO® League, (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has Teams (grades 4-8), build LEGO-based robots and develop research projects to develop valuable life skills and discover exciting career possibilities while learning that they can make a positive contribution to society. For children ages 6-9, JuniorFIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL®) captures young children's curiosity and directs it toward discovering the wonders of science and technology. This program features a real-world scientific concept to be explored through research, teamwork, construction, and imagination. Guided by adult Coaches, teams use LEGO® bricks to build a model that moves and develop a Show Me Poster to illustrate their journey.

FFA Agriscience Fair is a competition for FFA members who are interested in the science and technology of agriculture. It is held each year during the National FFA Convention. The National FFA Organization is a national youth organization of 579,678 student members as part of 7,570 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The FFA Mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education

Future City Competition is a national, project-based learning experience where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Students work as a team with an educator and engineer mentor to plan cities using SimCity™ software; research and write solutions to an engineering problem; build tabletop scale models with recycled materials; and present their ideas before judges at Regional Competitions in January. Regional winners represent their region at the National Finals in Washington, DC in February.

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF), provides an annual forum for approximately 1,700 high school students from more than 70 countries, regions, and territories to showcase their independent research as they compete for more than $5 million annually. 

Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force and administered by the National Science Teaching Association, the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium is a program that encourages students (grades 9-12) to do original research in STEM disciplines by competing for scholarships and recognition.

Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam™ InvenTeams are granted up to $10,000 each to conceptualize, design and build technological solutions to real-world problems. Working prototypes of the solutions are showcased at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each June at the Lemelson-MIT Program’s EurekaFest event.  come.

MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is a national coaching, enrichment and competition program that challenges students with a talent and passion for math in multiple levels of competition. 

DOE’s National Science Bowl is a nationwide academic competition that tests students' knowledge in all areas of science. Competing teams of diverse backgrounds are quizzed on scientific topics in biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth science, general science, and mathematics using a question-and-answer format similar to “Jeopardy.”

National STEM Video Game Challenge is a multi-year competition designed to create interest in STEM learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passion for playing and making video games.

National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge is a business plan competition that helps young people unlock their potential for entrepreneurial activity. Since 1987, NFTE has reached more than 350,000 students and runs programs in 21 states. Real World Design Challenge is an annual competition that provides high school students, grades 9-12, the opportunity to work on real world engineering challenges in a team environment. Each year, student teams are asked to address a challenge that confronts our nation's leading industries. Students utilize professional engineering software to develop their solutions and generate presentations that convincingly demonstrate the value of their solutions.

Rocket21 is a Youth Innovation Platform that safely connects middle and high school students with opportunities, projects, events and innovation competitions involving world-class experts from the world's leading institutions and corporations. Rocket21's "Dream Green National Innovation Competition" invited youth to share their ideas for how to save the planet by reducing air pollution, keeping drinking water clean, making our oceans pure, conserving energy, or other high-impact solutions. The competition was presented in partnership with Captain Planet Foundation, an organization focused on empowering and inspiring the next generation of eco-visionaries and environmental stewards.

Robots.net includes a calendar of Robotics Competitions nationwide, in addition to the events noted below:

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a $2 million grant program that promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education among public school students in grades 6-12 where they are challenged to show how they can use STEM to address an issue in their community.

Science Olympiad encourages teams of students in grades 6-12 to develop their interest in science and technology through competing in 23 events in the areas of chemistry, earth science, physics and technology.

Science of Sportsis an activity coordinated by Raytheon Company and the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation -- teamed up with Boys & Girls Clubs in New England. Each year, approximately 80 Raytheon volunteers mentor more than 150 students over 5 months to design and implement projects that explore the math and science embedded in competitive sports. The program culminates in the Science of Sports Science Fair at Gillette Stadium, where the 30 teams present their projects to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Raytheon Chairman William H. Swanson, who award scholarships to the winning teams.

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge is the premier national sustainability challenge, empowering students in grades K-12 to develop and share environmental solutions that change the world. The Challenge is sponsored by the Siemens Foundation and is administered by Discovery Education to educate, empower and engage elementary, middle and high school students and teachers to become “Agents of Change” in improving their schools, communities and world. To date, over 4.6M students have engaged with the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, increasing their STEM knowledge and creatively engaging their communities to find solutions to a local environmental issue or global energy challenge.

Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology is a premier science research competition for high school students. Administered by the College Board, the Competition is a program of the Siemens Foundation and was launched in 1998.

Team America Rocketry Challenge is the world’s largest student rocket contest and the aerospace and defense industry’s flagship program designed to encourage students to pursue study and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association, the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) and more than 20 industry partners, TARC provides middle and high school students the opportunity to design, build and launch model rockets in a competition among more than 5,000 students nationwide. The 2014 challenge tasked students with designing and building a rocket that could fly to 825 feet and back within 48 to 50 seconds while carrying precious cargo — two raw eggs that must return to the ground undamaged with the assistance of two parachutes.

Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision program has involved more than 287,000 students from across the United States and Canada. The competition encourages K-12 students to simulate real research and development as they study a technology of interest and predict and model what the technology might be like 20 years from now.

Verizon Innovative App Challenge provides the opportunity for middle school and high school students, working with a faculty advisor, to apply their STEM knowledge, ingenuity, and creativity to develop an original mobile app concept that incorporates STEM and addresses a need or problem in their school or community. The goal of the Challenge is to increase student interest and knowledge in STEM subjects and mobile technology through an engaging and empowering learning experience.

Zero Robotics is a free robotics programming competition (grades 9-12) where the robots are SPHERES satellites inside the International Space Station (ISS). The competition starts online, on the Zero Robotics website, where teams compete to solve an annual challenge guided by mentors. Participants can create, edit, share, save, simulate and submit code, all from a web browser. After several phases of virtual competition, finalists are selected to compete in a live championship aboard the ISS. An astronaut conducts the championship competition in microgravity with a live broadcast!

 

 

Looking for some visual prompts to show the excitement and opportunities for Engineers and other STEM areas of study? Check out the videos listed below.

There also are a host of websites that provide valuable STEM information and activities. Try some of these:

For journals or publications, check out:

Finally, for information on colleges, be sure to check out:

 

 

SAME Posts are actively engaged in STEM-related activities -- from the The Boy Scouts Merit Badge program that offers merit badges related to architecture, engineering, science and math, to local science fairs and more. Contact your local SAME Post for details on what Post Members are doing in your local area.

View the South Florida Post's STEM Minecraft Program

 

 

SAME Engineering and Construction Camps

SAME's strength is its focus on the military engineering element. As such, SAME provides a vibrant program through the SAME Engineering and Construction Camps. These high energy, hands-on, week-long camps for high school students are led by a professional staff of engineers from both private industry and the military services. Previous camps have included: 

View details on how to apply to the SAME Engineering and Construction Camp program

 

Scholarship Programs
In addition, SAME Posts have myriad scholarships in place to mentor students in support of STEM. Scholarship include opportunities to attend an SAME camp, college, or other assistance. For information, review the Post Scholarship Programs page, then contact an SAME Post in your area for details.

We can do this by lending support to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs that inspire future generations of engineers. Within SAME, our Posts have had many successful K-12 programs and Engineer Week activities. Our focus on STEM will pull it all together and expand our successes in more and different ways including school visits, STEM-related programs, science fairs, inspirational mentoring, and more.

 

 

Text in the works.

This is an archive of the recording and supporting materials of past COI-wide calls.

TBD.