Spokane STEM

Advanced STEM Research Program @ Odessa High School

  By Jeff Wehr STEM Research & Education Odessa High School As the state and national STEM standards continue to evolve, so must our methods for teaching science, engineering, and mathematics. The students at Odessa High School in Odessa, WA have experimented with many models of STEM research. One of the research models is a year-long course entitled: Advanced STEM Research (or ASR as the students call it).   Over 15 years ago, ASR became an elective class where students create, conduct, and present unique student-driven STEM research. Students engaging in ASR make observations on the real world, create questions regarding their obs...

Brooke Martin: Inventor of iCPooch

Brooke Martin, a 13-year-old from Spokane, Washington, developed the idea for iCPooch to solve her dog’s separation anxiety. The invention allows dog owners to video chat with their pets when they’re away from home. In October, Brooke placed 2nd at the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge in St. Paul, Minnesota, the premier national science competition for students in grades 5 through 8. How did this great achievement come about? It started with an observation—Brooke noticed that her golden retriever Kayle got really anxious when the family left—and then a great idea. But Brooke will tell you that she had a lot of hel...

STEM Forward 2014

By Jeremy Marinos Last week Spokane STEM and Washington STEM co-hosted STEM Forward 2014. The event went very well. I got many comments that there was a lot of energy in the room throughout the event. Updates were given by Patrick D’Amelio, CEO of Washington STEM and Anne Marie Axworthy, interim executive director of Spokane. In the Washington STEM update Patrick announced that Washington STEM will make another two year investment in Spokane STEM. Washington STEM gave Spokane STEM the initial seed funding to start up a network in Spokane in May of 2012. Since then Spokane STEM has developed a business plan (submitted on April 1, 20...