Round Rock ISD’s proximity to leading high-tech, healthcare, education, and manufacturing companies directly related to STEM provides our staff with access to dynamic professional development opportunities for educators.
Through a partnership with Texas State University – Round Rock, 21 teachers from the K-12 district attended a STEM-for-All professional development day designed to create and educate diverse pipelines of future STEM scientists and leaders. Our educators immersed themselves in NASA’s Artemis mission to establish a base camp on the moon. Following the workshop, Round Rock ISD educators tailored specific STEM-For-All experiences to their K-12 classroom goals and students’ grade level.
“I am excited to use NASA’s Artemis missions to engage my students in space science now and in the future,” said Joseph Ivanenok, Stony Point High School vocational and technical education teacher.
The STEM-For-All project aims to promote comfortable and effective daily community interactions, regardless of age or aspirations, with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“It looks like the curiosity of space science has been renewed,” said Sema Adkar, Deerpark High School chair of the science department. “NASA’s degree of cultural sensitivity is commendable, and it gives me hope and dreams of being an astronaut or visiting the International Space Station one day.”
Rep. John Carter (TX-31) and Texas State University announced $1 million in funding for the Round Rock Campus STEM-for-All partnership. Congressman Carter secured those funds in the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriation Bill. The STEM-for-All partnership aligns with some of Texas State University’s strengths, including community engagement along the Texas Innovation Corridor; and relevant research that helps improve the educational and economic health of Texas.