VT College of Science Magazine Fall 2009 | Page 11

9 University to present a full-day STEM conference for 600 to 800 sixth-grade girls from area schools. nesses in Virginia and Tennessee, and faculty from Virginia Tech and Radford WHY JOIN? HNN is a free online social and professional networking site designed to connect Hokies around the globe. • Connect with friends, classmates, alumni, and students. Quick steps to register: • Find Hokies by locality, career, interests, class year, or major, and get involved with local Alumni Association chapters. 1. Go to www.alumni.vt.edu/hnn • Post your résumé, create new business contacts, start a discussion on a topic of your choice, and advertise opportunities for other Hokies. 3. Create your profile and start networking! 2. Login with your VT PID and password COS HOMECOMING '09 Virginia Tech vs University of North Carolina 7:30 p.m. Mark your calendar for the College of Science Homecoming! Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 Join alumni, family, and friends beginning at 4:30 before the Hokies take on the Tarheels for a pre-game tailgate picnic, college displays, entertainment, and kids’ games. Tailgate Picnic is $15/per person. Children ages 5-11: $10; Children ages 4 and under: Free Current Virginia Tech Students: $10 Smith Career Center Career Services Building (corner of Washington Street and West Campus Drive near the stadium) Game tickets per paid registrant are $48 each. Everyone attending the game must have a ticket, including infants. For more information, contact Robin Jackson at 540/231-8706 or [email protected]. To register, go to www.alumni.vt.edu/reunion/cos. ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009 GET CONNECTED WITH THE HOKIE NATION NETWORK! M A G A Z I N E “Teachers are hungry for professional development programs that provide Successful VT-STEM programs aren’t limited to the Blacksburg campus. The new content information and new methods and strategies for teaching STEM Virginia Tech Southwest Center in Abingdon, Va., for example, has become a subjects,” McCallum said. “Many of them have not taken a curriculum-specific vital regional STEM education source. Each November, the Virginia Tech South- class since receiving their college degrees. The teachers know what they need, west Center partners with the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, busi- and we try to deliver that.” S C I E N C E the Fralin Life Science Institute’s Biotech-in-a-Box program. O F One reason STEM programs are sought after is the need for teachers and “We adopted STEM as our signature program about four years ago,” said Penny students to master the Standards of Learning (SOLs). “VT-STEM people know McCallum, the center’s director. For three years, the center has hosted the the national and state SOLs, and most things taught in our programs can be Summer STEM Institute, a three-day program for pre-kindergarten to 12thgrade teachers who want to motivate students to consider careers in STEM related to the standards,” Sharp said. disciplines. Workshop topics for the 2009 institute range from using model Some of the university’s STEM programs have been drawing K-12 fans for many rockets in the classroom to conducting hands-on soil science experiments. years, including the annual Wood Magic Show, presented by the College of Natural Resources’ Department of Wood Science and Forest Products; the The Virginia Tech Southwest Center also collaborates on an annual STEM conferCollege of Engineering’s Imagination and C-Tech2 summer camps; the Physics ence for the region’s sixth-grade girls and hosts several one-day workshops for Outreach Program; the 4-H State Congress; the Museum of Geosciences; and teachers throughout the year. C O L L E G E VT-STEM continued educating K-12 students, STEM programs help teachers learn to stay current in their fields.”