Since 2012 through the STEM Scale-Up Program, the STEM Council has partnered with STEM education programs that have reached up to 100,000 young Iowa learners each year, actively engaging them in exemplary STEM curriculum across the state. Thousands of educators in and out of schools across Iowa have delivered exciting units in robotics, coding, engineering design, agriculture, animal science and more.

Since 2014, the STEM Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers (BEST) Program awardees have been uniting educators and employers involving school+business partnerships to expand the learning continuum from school to tomorrow's career opportunities. Working side-by-side, teachers and industry professionals craft curriculum and projects to create a multitude of authentic and career-linked learning experiences that prepare students for exciting career pathways in the STEM fields of manufacturing, information technology, bioscience (agriculture and medicine), finance, and more.

Since its launch in 2009, the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program aims to build bridges between Iowa’s workplaces and STEM educators across the state by equipping them to work at local businesses, organizations and other workplaces alongside knowledgeable and skilled employees during the summer to provide career-linked learning in their classrooms and to build long-lasting school-business partnerships.

The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and Kemin Industries joined together to honor teachers who are making a significant difference in the lives of students across the state by providing excellent curriculum, encouraging lifelong learning and inspiring a passion for STEM beyond the classroom and into the future.

The vision of the Computer Science is Elementary project is to transform the high-poverty elementary school awardees into showcases of outstanding computer science education, including career exploration with employer partners, and to serve as statewide resources for Iowa educators by sharing their curriculum and community engagement strategies.

What’s currently known as the Microsoft Imagine Academy was first funded by the legislature [House File 604, pg. 15, 4.c.(3)] under the FY2014 education appropriation for the statewide STEM effort. The Microsoft Imagine Academy program provides a complete IT education solution to member partners that bridges the world of education with the world of work. The program is designed to help drive employability, digital literacy, technical and STEM-focused training and certification, and 21st-century workforce development for students.