Congratulations to GPB's guest blogger, Alexa Dean, Innovation Specialist at Tritt ES: ​http://www.gpb.org/blogs/education-matters/2017/01/30/tritt-elementarys-stem-journey

 This year’s competition, EnviroTech: Solutions for Tomorrow’s Environmental Challenges, invites students to design a website that identifies an environmental problem(s) and the emerging technology that will help combat these issues.
 
Participation is open to all Georgia middle school students in grades 6-8.  Teams will consist of 2-4 students with one school approved adult advisor or school faculty member.  School organizations, private schools, and home schools are also eligible to register. All websites will be judged by professionals in the industry on a variety of criteria, including functionality, design, content, and navigation. The program also works to recognize and reward educators who are advisors to the winning teams.
 
Registration for the middle school student competition is now open.  For more information, please visit, https://www.tagedonline.org/programs/middle-school-webchallenge/ or contact Katie Dion at kdion@tagonline.org. To register a team and view the program guide, please click HERE.

This school year marks the Russell Space Team’s 19th space mission simulation since the program’s inception in 1998. 4th and 5th grade students in Russell’s space program spend many hours after the regular school day beginning in August to prepare for a 27-hour high-fidelity space mission simulation that includes a launch and landing, payload deployment, EVA (spacewalk), onboard experiments, and around-the-clock real-time monitoring of onboard systems from our mock Mission Control Center. 

​is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that aims to develop a diverse, competitive, and nationally engaged teacher and faculty workforce through activities and projects performed alongside graduate and undergraduate students, as well as faculty and industry advisors. The participants will receive 8 weeks of PAID professional development on renewable energy content and teaching strategies. Seven weeks will be delivered, at Georgia Southern University, in the summer from the second week of June through the fourth week of July*, excluding the week of July 4th. The eighth week will be delivered during the academic year in one 2 1/2 day workshop per semester.  There are a limited number of seats, so apply early at http://research.georgiasouthern.edu/energy/   

Edcamp is an “unconference” model of professional learning, meaning there are no vendors, no keynotes, and no set session schedule until you arrive. What does that mean?  With this participant-driven professional learning model, the participants set the schedule of sessions the day of the event, and anyone who chooses to facilitate a session may do so. Participants are encouraged to “vote with their feet” and change sessions at any time they wish in order to best meet the learning needs of the educator.  This FREE event is open to anyone who wishes to attend. Register here: goo.gl/forms/akBhJQURvwgI7Uht1

Code.org is offering free computer science workshops for K-5 teachers: January 17th or January 19th from 4:30-8:30 PM at McEachern HS.  For more information and to register for either date:

• January 17th: https://studio.code.org/pd/workshops/1190/enroll
• January 19th: https://studio.code.org/pd/workshops/1353/enroll

Several Cobb schools participated in Man and Machine: A STEAM-based Exhibition. Check out the online gallery!
Please join us for the gallery opening on January 11th from 6-8 PM at the Art Place in Marietta. The exhibit will be on display from January 9 - 26.