STEM Everyday

YouthRoots has a mission to bridge the gap between generations, fostering connections that open up a world of opportunities in STEM fields for young minds.

They provide students with a glimpse into the STEM fields they can pursue through interviews of STEM professionals. Using a holistic approach to STEM education, YouthRoots creates and leads students in hands on activities and engaging lessons, and after dozens of domestic outreac...

The Clueless is a FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team made up of 13 members from 8 middle/high schools across San Diego, California. Through FTC, they are determined to grow as a team, have fun, and leave a lasting impact on their community.

In their 9 years of competing, they have set the world record twice ('22 & '24) and qualified to the World Championship 6 times, where they've won the divisional Inspire Award thr...

STEM education requires a solid foundation of skills. Without basic math and reading proficiency, children are not prepared for the opportunities awaiting them in a world of changing careers.

Chris Papst is the lead investigative reporter for Project Baltimore, Fox45 News’ ongoing investigation into Maryland’s public education system. As a national award-winning reporter, his work has led to the passing of state laws, criminal convi...

Doug Scott has taught 9th-12th grade engineering, robotics, and technology since 2003. His current role at Hopkinton High School includes being the district leader for Business, Tech & Engineering in grades 6–12.

Doug has led numerous robotics and competitive technology teams to state and regional championships, as well as national and international competitions, growing the robotics program from six students to 160. In 2014, Do...

Dr Jennifer Berry is the CEO of SmartLab (an education pioneer in STEM, transforming traditional learning environments into project-based learning experiences since 1987). She has previously held leadership roles at other education organizations, each time bringing her expertise and experience as a parent and veteran of stage performance to build better learning opportunities for every kid every day.

SmartLab's mission is to en...

Chuck Ridgeway is the Automation Technology Manager & Senior Customer Advocate at Horner Automation in Indianapolis, Indiana. As an engineer in the automation and robotics industry for over 30 years, Chuck has seen both the changes and valuable uses of automation and robotics in our world, and is an important voice for educators to hear about the value of STEM learning for future careers.

Horner Automation has been part of some ...

Chad Miller teaches Technology, Engineering, & Design as well as Computer Science in North Carolina. But he wasn't always a teacher. His experiences as a computer aided draftsman helped him learn the business of architectural lighting, and in the process problem solving, iteration, and more skills that kids in CTE courses need. As an educator, he has always been passionate about STEM and providing real world examples in hi...

For over 15 years, Simply Technologies has been sneaking digital manufacturing into classrooms—one buzzing spindle and slightly terrified teacher at a time. So far, they’ve helped over 3,500 North American schools bring STEM to life in very real, very loud, very safe, and very hands-on ways.

Their father-son company, Simply Technologies, has (unofficially but confidently) placed more CNC machines in schools than anyone els...

With a cardboard box and a spark of imagination, in 2008, Makedo was born. More than just tools, Makedo empowers kids to become problem-solvers, innovators, and collaborators.

Today, Makedo isn’t just a product line of blue screws & cardboard tools; it’s a vibrant, global community of makers dedicated to building a better future for people and the planet through imaginative, purposeful play, one cardboard creation at a time.

(Che...

After 10 years as Quizizz, a new way and a new focus has necessitated the change to a new name: Wayground. 

Kyle Niemis is the Head of Community at Wayground (formerly Quizizz), educator, and co-founder of ClassroomQ. "Wayground provides educators with a supplemental learning platform that brings together instruction, practice, and assessment in an AI-supported hub that helps students hit grade-level standards faster."

PJ Creek was teaching social studies and science in middle school. He always referenced his periodic table poster on the wall, but didn't have anything similar to help with social studies. His problem lead to creating the Periodic Table of the Presidents, a poster that shows information about the presidents in a periodic table shape and style. 

That poster lead to more great infographics on topics like the Amendments, National ...

Robotics education is highly incorporated into upper grade levels because of its connection to careers. But elementary robotics is often one-off projects and fun time. The leadership at Woodland Hills School District in Pennsylvania is ensuring that every kid gets to do a lot more with robotics. 

Tina Dietrich is the STEM Coordinator at Woodland Hills School District, where she leads initiatives to integrate hands-on STEM and roboti...

As education faces new challenges from technology and an ever-changing labor market, the need for public-private partnership in education is as important as ever. Local governments and business organizations everywhere are realizing this need, and building partnerships and advocacy groups to help make these necessary connections.

The state of Michigan has long relied on public-private partnerships to prepare students for jobs of the...

Born a patriot, Dr. Leslie Gruis spent 30 years as a mathematician and intelligence officer at the National Security Agency, where she helped develop technology solutions that balanced national security with civil rights. She later served at U.S. Cyber Command and the National Intelligence Council. Now retired, she writes and speaks on privacy, surveillance, and democracy—making complex topics accessible for everyday Americans. Dr....

Elliot Lichtman started teaching online classes in computer science when he was a freshman in high school. Small classes quickly grew into a series of larger and longer offerings, and from those, his book The Computer Always Wins was born.  Elliot is currently a sophomore at Yale University.

In The Computer Always Wins, Elliot Lichtman teaches some of computer science’s most powerful concepts in a refreshingly accessible way: explor...

What can a couple of high school students do to encourage STEM interest and skills?

For Edison Law and Revaant Srivastav, that meant starting the California STEM Academy, an online option to provide tutoring help in subjects such as Math, Science, Coding, and PSAT prep. They also help students with passion projects, as well as providing summer "boot camps" to build up specific STEM skills. And what started as just two stud...

Should we teach our kids "21st century skills" or should we rethink what that means and start teaching "workplace durable skills"?

Dan Thomas just retired from a 30+ year career as an educator in New York. He's been a STEM and PBL consultant, and a LEGO education, Makey Makey, and Code.org trainer.

As a teacher, he's sought to revolutionize education through play and technology, believing that learning s...

At what age should we begin focusing on STEM learning? According to Jeremy Anderson, the data overwhelmingly shows that students are already forming interest and thoughts on STEM careers when they're in elementary school. That makes it vital to look at how we include STEM career introduction at a younger age. In discussions about STEM, math often takes a backseat as focus shifts to science and technology. However, a strong mat...

The education software space is filled with plenty of choices for helping kids design and create. That's especially true in the CAD space, as programs like Tinkercad appeal to younger kids and Fusion/AutoCAD/OnShape & more are great for older students. 

SelfCAD is a new software choice that combines the best of block/shape design from Tinkercad and the higher level design of traditional CAD software. SelfCAD doesn’t require...