River District takes its STEM lessons on the road to Raleigh

By Edna Chirico

CLICK TO HEAR Dr. Klemmer's introduction from Bok Tower Gardens

The River District’s involvement in STEM education is gaining statewide recognition. Recently, three members of our team coordinated an hour-long breakout session at the NC STEM Bridging the Gap Conference in Raleigh.
This annual conference by the NC Association for Biomedical Research seeks to strengthen K-16 STEM education throughout North Carolina.
Educators, business leaders, government officials and others involved in science, technology, engineering and math-focused (STEM) education come to share ideas and resources.
As you probably know, the River District has become deeply involved in improving our nearby schools through hands-on STEM learning opportunities such as schoolyard gardens, STEM learning events and even our roving chicken tractor
Our presenting team at the STEM conference on Oct. 15 included:
• Dr. Cynthia Klemmer, director of education at Florida’s Bok Tower Gardens, leading a video-supported presentation on teaching children about plant parts. CLICK TO VIEW THE VIDEO, "Foods We Eat: Parts of a Plant."
• Megan Lambert, senior culinary instructor at Johnson and Wales University, demonstrating how teachers can use cooking in the classroom to support lessons on plant parts.
• And me, sharing the Catawba River District’s programs including our 11-county regional partnership focused on STEM skills and schoolyard gardens.
Our presentation concluded with an overview of our Southern Spring Show Ultimate Schoolyard Garden design and strategy, plus the opportunity for our audience to sample Megan’s Plant Parts Salad and dressing.
The program was well received (and tasty!) with numerous questions and thoughts from educators around North Carolina.
This is one more reason to support the Catawba River District in our STEM focused initiatives.