STEMpath Program Kicks Off First Summer of Externships - Welcome Kelsey!
Last May we officially announced STEMpath - an unprecedented STEM-Computer Science educator certification program in partnership with mindSpark Learning, Metropolitan State University, and Colorado Succeeds. Flash forward one year and our first cohort is rocking and rolling. After the first semester 100% of the educators felt the professional development was innovative, valuable and inspiring, 100% said they'd recommend the program, and 100% agreed that the program will have a positive impact on their students and on the culture and climate of their organization! Woot!
This week our teachers kicked off their second semester with 6-week industry externships. Research shows that externships are a key differentiator in educator professional development. And when structured as an extended individualized experience the typical results are improved teacher motivation and confidence, increased teacher commitment to teaching, enhanced teacher knowledge and abilities, and sustained changes to classroom practice. We're incredibly proud to be a part of this adventure not only as a key STEMpath partner, but we're also hosting an extern at Couragion!
We'd love to officially welcome Kelsey Rasmussen to the Couragion team! Kelsey is an amazing STEM educator in the St. Vrain Valley School District. Throughout the externship, she'll be engaged in product management, user experience, software development, and quality assurance projects. In fact, she's already jumped into user acceptance and usability testing for our new Engineering Challenges. We're fortunate that Kelsey is a leader at Erie High School teaching Computer Science and Engineering. Her wisdom, thoughtfulness, positive outlook, and attention to detail all make her a wonderful addition to the team. Educator voice is indispensable at an EdTech company! You can follow Kelsey and her externship journey on twitter @ErieEngineering!
Read more about the educator externships and how to get involved here.