Happy New Year from all of us at STEM Sports®! As 2019 comes to a close and we enter 2020, we wanted to stop and reflect over the year our company has had. We’re proud to report that our curriculum is being implemented in 46 states out of the 50 United States. Additionally, we have agreements to take STEM Sports® international with Casablanca, Morocco leading the charge and a pilot program beginning in Japan with Egypt soon to follow. We envision great things in 2020! Here is a month-by-month review of some of the highlights.
January:
Most Popular Blog: The Future of STEM Based Jobs
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® launched our Facebook Shop to create a new way for educators to purchase all of our STEM Sports curriculum kits.
- STEM Sports® was able to present the company to House of Genius Phoenix. Through doing this, we had the opportunity to better our company and create a stronger foundation moving forward in 2019 and beyond.
February:
Most Popular Blog: The Ultimate Guide to STEM Education and Learning
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® attended a professional development event in Phoenix for Deer Valley Unified School District teachers and administrators. There were 250 educators at the event, which allowed us to show off our amazing curricula!
- We began our partnership with Skyhawks Sports Academy. Based on Skyhawks Sports’ mission, we’re a great fit as partners. Similar to us at STEM Sports®, Skyhawks Sports believes in using sports as a real life application to enhancing STEM education. This partnership is still in place and we look forward to more great things in 2020!
March:
Most Popular Blog: Girls in STEM: Building Motivation and Competence through Sport
Highlights:
- On March 30, 2019, our CEO and Founder Jeff Golner traveled to Mexico City, Mexico that help implement STEM Sports® curriculum on behalf of HandsOn Mexico. Over 150 children from the Club de Niños y Niñas (CNyN) came to engage in STEM activities. In a true Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity, American Express employees helped facilitate STEM Basketball, STEM Football, STEM Soccer and STEM Volleyball lessons. Click the link to see a brief video about what HandsOn Mexico said about our partnership!
April:
Most Popular Blog: Educators Turning to Disguised Learning
Highlights:
- In an effort to drive our soon-to-be-released in 2020 golf curriculum, we worked with ShortGolf and created a partnership. ShortGolf’s unique golf equipment will soon be available in our STEM Golf curriculum kits as well as in our STEM Multi-Sport kits for K-2 grades.
May:
Most Popular Blog: Adult STEM Education- It’s Never too Late
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® went to Skyhawks Sports headquarters in Spokane, Washington to begin the implementation and roll-out of the partnership. Click the link to learn more about the partnership.
June:
Most Popular Blog: Lego Education and Curriculum
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® celebrated the three year anniversary of the company’s opening. Since 2016, our company has expanded across states, countries and our curriculum has continued to advance. As a company, we are proud of our quick progress that has allowed us to help more students improve their STEM literacy through the use of sports.
July:
Most Popular Blog: STEM Sports® Newsletter
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® had the honor of attending the SciTech Institute, End of Year STEM Celebration at Arizona State University. It featured key supporters and leaders in STEM throughout Arizona. It gave us the opportunity to talk with others about the future of STEM and the combination of STEM and sports to create engaging curriculum.
- We attended the 2019 AZCEA Conference at the Madison Elementary School District Building. Members from 25 school districts across Arizona attended the conference. We engaged with many educators who have a passion for STEM and/or sports and were interested in how our STEM curriculum combines the two.
August:
Most Popular Blog: Back to School and Budget Cuts
Highlights:
- The annual CSO Leadership Training Institution Expo at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona attracted Chief Science Officers (CSO) from across the country as well as Mexico, Kuwait, Africa and the Middle East. During this event, we were able to showcase our STEM Sports® curriculum and the unique way we use sports to facilitate the lessons. Even CSO’s who did not particularly like sports were intrigued by our hands-on approach to STEM education. Click this link to watch a brief video about our interaction with CSO’s.
September:
Most Popular Blog: Sphero Education
Highlights:
- We were a finalist in the Phoenix Business Journal’s inaugural Small Business Award event. We were proud to be considered for the award along with other deserved small businesses.
- Playing with Precision was released! This free lesson teaches students about energy transfer, accuracy and precision. With minimal required supplies, it makes it easy to implement in classrooms, after school programs or at home. It aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and promotes the Engineering Design Process (EDP) through the hands-on trial-and-error lesson.
- STEM Sports® attended the Beyond Sports House event in New York City where we gathered with leaders in sports, business, social change, academia and development. Together, we produced recommendations on how to improve education through STEM. These recommendations were then presented to the United Nations.
October:
Most Popular Blog: STEM Activities and Resources for Every Age (K-12)
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® president and CEO Jeff Golner sat down with FUTRSPRT to discuss the future role of sports in education. He talked about STEM Sports®, our mission, partnerships and the impact the curricula is having in the classroom. FUTRSPRT noted STEM Sports® for being a company that is impacting the sportstech landscape for the future.
November:
Most Popular Blog: STEM Sports® in Morocco
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® expanded our reach internationally by visiting Morocco through a partnership with TIBU. President and CEO Jeff Golner traveled to Casablanca to meet with TIBU President Amine Zariat to implement use of the STEM Basketball curriculum and be able to offer all STEM Sports curricula. During the trip, Golner met with the United States Embassy to discuss the need for quality STEM education in Morocco. STEM Sports® is looking forward to working with TIBU and in Morocco more in the future.
December:
Most Popular Blog: Holiday Gifting- STEM Style
Highlights:
- STEM Sports® participated in #YouthDay at the Charles Schwab Cup Championships. We worked with 100 young Boys & Girls Club members by rolling out three of our latest STEM Golf lessons.
And the most popular blog of 2019 was: Adult STEM Education- It’s Never too Late
STEM Sports® is proud of the year that we have had and the outstanding opportunities received by schools and students using our curricula. In 2020, we will be releasing Volume 2 versions of our current STEM kits that include new and exciting additions! We will now offer:
- Grade differentiation (lessons for 3-5 grades and 6-8 grades) to maximize student success in each module,
- STEM & Sports Jobs/Occupations that correspond with each lesson topic
- Pre-and-post assessments
- A Capstone Project for the 6-8th graders to allow them to show what they have learned on a larger scale.
Be on the lookout for new curriculum including STEM Baseball, STEM Golf, STEM Multi-Sport for K-2 grades, STEM Softball and more!
We’re thrilled for the future and are excited to be able to assist young minds in their exploration of all the sciences found in sports! Happy New Year!
