Front L - R: Katie Rose Dailey (Fhi360 Associate), Marissa Oestreicher (VCSU STEM Candidate), Stephanie Andrews (Bush Foundation Educational Achievement Senior Manager) and Susan Heegaard (Bush Foundation Educational Achievement Vice President).

Back L - R: Tyler Martin (VCSU STEM Candidate), Jim Boe (Chair, VCSU Technology Education), Justin Christy (Bush Foundation Educational Achievement Associate) and Robin White (Fhi360 Consultant for the Valley Partnership).

 

Members of the Bush Foundation and Fhi 360 visited the three campuses of the Valley Partnership on Thursday, March 22, 2012 to review work that has been accomplished since their last visit in 2011.  The full day of activities began with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) demonstration and discussion with Jim Boe, Technology Education Professor and Chair at Valley City State University (VCSU).  A lunch with Deans, Valley Partnership Project Leads, K-12 partner school representatives, K-12 teachers and current candidates was hosted by North Dakota State University (NDSU).  The afternoon concluded with a Project Leads wrap-up at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM).

Jim Boe, VCSU Technology Education Chair demonstrates use of aerodynamics in STEM lessons.

 

VCSU STEM Teacher Candidates, Marissa Oestreicher and Tyler Martin

 

Susan Heegaard, Stephanie Andrews and Justin Christy from the Bush Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota together with Robin White and Katie Rose Dailey, FHI360 consultants, visited the three partner institutions (Minnesota State University Moorhead, North Dakota State University and Valley City State University) of the Valley Partnership on Thursday, March 22, 2012.  This visit was part of an annual review of the ongoing Bush Grant Initiative to innovate teacher preparation and support across the three campuses.

The full day of presentations and discussions began with a demonstration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program activities taking place in the preparation of elementary, technology, science and math teachers at VCSU.  Teacher candidates participating in the demonstration included VCSU Elementary Education majors Tyler Martin and Marissa Oestreicher.  Jim Boe, VCSU Department Chair of Technology Education shared an overview of the STEM program and provided participants with a “hands on” experience using a thematic unit on Flight and Aerodynamics.  The teacher candidates shared a complete thematic unit developed to include Math, Technology and Engineering, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies as well as “hands on” components for students to apply their knowledge.

The Grant Review Team left VCSU to attend a luncheon and meeting at NDSU where they visited with current P-12 classroom teachers and student teaching candidates about their experiences working together using the co-teaching model.   Participants took turns moving among the three discussion tables to meet with teachers and candidates at all levels, kindergarten/elementary, middle school and secondary. 

Activities concluded with a Project Leads meeting and discussion about Valley Partnership goals and next steps.  Review team participants believed the visits with faculty, teachers and candidates provided a wealth of information and feedback on our project’s progress.  Valley Partnership members were encouraged to document these experiences for our archives.

No Valley Partnership events have been scheduled at this time.  Schedules are posted when events are opened for registration.

 

If you have an upcoming event for current or future teachers that we could post on our website, please let us know by contacting:

Carolyn DeLorme, Ph.D.

Valley Partnership Coordinator

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

(701)730-6513

Billboard on Main Avenue in Fargo on January 30, 2012

 

The Valley Partnership (Minnesota State University Moorhead, North Dakota State University and Valley City State University) combined grant funds to purchase advertising on four electronic billboards.  The 30 day campaign utilized one billboard per week for each of the four weeks between January 15 and February 15, 2012.  Messages rotated between red and blue backgrounds on a regular schedule throughout the day at integral intersections across the Fargo/Moorhead metropolitan area.

Jamie Wirth, VCSU and Valley Partnership recruitment work group team member, designed the website message.  Bill Martin, project lead from NDSU commented, “Our goal was to provide a simple message in a colorful format that could be easily remembered by individuals interested in teaching.”  The billboards were also intended to increase curiosity and exploration of our website at teachers2be.org.

The number of website “hits” has steadily increased since Valley Partnership launched the billboard ads.  Our monitoring records have been very helpful to inform us about the numbers of visitors to our website and which billboard locations were most effective in attracting public attention.  This information will be reviewed in our next recruitment meeting to determine future directions.

INMED Summer Institute Participants July 2011

 

Diversity is an important component of the Valley Partnership teacher recruitment activity.  American Indian students number nearly 10 percent of the total student population in North Dakota (Kids Count Data Center, 2008).  Minnesota counties with poverty rates of 21 percent or greater include those populated primarily by American Indian children, ages birth to 18 years (Kids Count Data Center, 2009).  These statistics highlight the need to encourage American Indian young people to become highly-qualified American Indian educators.

On July 5, 2011, Valley Partnership team members, Jamie Wirth (Valley City State University) and Carolyn DeLorme (VP Coordinator), traveled to Grand Forks, North Dakota to present information about teaching and the Bush Grant initiative to a group of 84 American Indian students already atending the Indians into Medicine (INMED) Summer Institute.  INMED is a very unique and highly-recognized national program administered through the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences to attract high achieving American Indian students into all aspects of the medical profession.  Each summer American Indian young people, grades 7 through 12, compete for 90 openings in a 6-week academic enrichment institute held on the university campus.  The program offers coursework and exploratory activities related to the field of medicine.  Not all attendees at the INMED Summer Institute choose to pursue medicine, but they do all have in common a strong interest and academic success in math and science.

Last year, the director of INMED, Gene DeLorme, extended an invitation to Valley Partnership to visit with his summer institute students about the teaching profession.  "Not all of these students will become doctors," Gene remarked, "but we do want them to continue in professions necessary and meaningful to their people."

The Valley Partnership presentation was well received by the INMED summer students who kept Jamie and Carolyn busy for an extra thirty minutes answering questions and providing information about our partner institutions.  The recruitment information presented also received additional encouragement from several of the program counselors who are classroom teachers during the academic school year.