Collaborating with regional workforce enhances the depth of career-focused education, forging valuable connections for both sides. Explore how the LASTEM initiative seamlessly integrates career exploration across K-20 classrooms, empowering learners with practical skills and real-world insights.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave equipped with the knowledge of key contacts within corporations for effective outreach projects. Additionally, they'll grasp the significance of aligning lesson plans with career exploration to deepen student comprehension.

SPEAKERS:
Clint Coleman (Louisiana Board of Regents: New Orleans, LA)

Dr. Michael Hammond-Todd (Utah Tech University) will be presenting the (STEAM)2 - STEAM Squared model of lesson design for formal and informal K-12 educators that connects the STEM curriculum to inclusive practice by combining STEAM with NASA's Artemis 2 Program in a very interactive workshop.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants and STEM educators will be able to use the (STEAM)2 model to explore NASA's Artemis 2 program within the context of inclusive lesson design based on the contextual factors and diversity of their learners. You will also be able to explore this model within your own educational ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Hammond-Todd (Utah Tech University: Nanaimo, BC)

Explore two museum-school partnership models that integrate best practices in outdoor and environmental education to connect urban K - 8 students to place-based learning through teacher professional development and direct student engagement both in the classroom and outdoors.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will dive deeper into the ways these programs allow schools to partner with cultural institutions, connecting them to resources and building teacher capacity through supported outdoor experiences, to connect K-8 students with the nature in their neighborhood and city.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Siska (Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: Chicago, IL)

Session participants will experience the immersive Half-Earth Project map to explore our planet's richness and fragility. Then, they will learn to utilize ARC-GIS Story Maps to transform scientific content and data into compelling narratives suitable for non-formal and formal environments.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, attendees will be introduced to RC-GIS Story Maps and learn to create simple, learner-centered resources. They will also receive materials to support the continued application of this tool and facilitate student-created content.

SPEAKERS:
Claire Lannoye-Hall (Detroit Zoological Society: Huntington Woods, MI), Jocelyn Miller (E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation: Chapel Hill, NC)