STEM Alliance Communications Tolkit for Schools

Communications Toolkit

What is STEM Alliance?

OVERVIEW KEY DATES BACK TO SCHOOL COMPETITION EVENT IDEAS VIDEO IDEAS

Demand for STEM professionals and associate professionals is expected to grow by around 8% between now and 2025, much higher than the average 3% growth forecast for all occupations. Europe needs more young people to be interested in STEM subjects and pursue STEM careers so that they can become a part of a muchneeded qualified workforce in the coming years. To accomplish this, we must engage and spark their interest using innovative methods.

Industry and the Ministries of Education are working together to improve the situation of STEM education in Europe. They collaborate under the STEM Alliance, which further builds on the achievements obtained by the inGenious project.

This is why, with the support of its partners, STEM Alliance animates a community of companies and educational authorities to motivate as many young people as possible to pursue STEM subjects and careers.

The STEM Alliance is organised in three major building blocks: Supporting school – industry cooperation to improve STEM education and promote STEM careers

European communication campaigns, the spring campaign with its highest peak on the STEM Discovery Week, and a Back to School campaign

Support of the emergence of National STEM Platforms and coordination of targeted evidencebased studies

STEM Alliance calendar of activities: school year 2016/2017 OVERVIEW KEY DATES BACK TO SCHOOL COMPETITION EVENT IDEAS

date

event 26th September – 7th October 2016

31st October 2016

24th November 2016

8:00 – 13:00

STEM Alliance Back to School campaign

Release of STEM Alliance paper on the impact of the use of ICT in STEM Education • High Level Event for policy-makers and industrialists in Brussels • Award ceremony for winners of the STEM4YOU competition 2016

VIDEO IDEAS February 2017

28th February 2017 April-May 2017

(date TBC)

Launch of Professionals Go Back to School Scheme

Closing of the STEM Alliance competition

STEM Discovery Week

What is the Back to School campaign?

OVERVIEW KEY DATES BACK TO SCHOOL COMPETITION EVENT IDEAS VIDEO IDEAS

With the end of the summer season comes the new school year and students return to their studies, well-equipped and full of energy. This is also the time for teachers to prepare for the academic activities for the coming months and set the tone for the upcoming year through interesting and educational initiatives. This is particularly important when it comes to STEM subjects, as motivating young people to pursue science and technology fields is essential for forming a capable and innovative workforce in Europe.

With the Back to School campaign, it is time to plan your event and/or video and put STEM careers in your programme.

How can you participate?

Share your opinion on STEM studies & careers in our online polls

Share your plan for the school year with us

Check the priorities & events of STEM Alliance partners

Start preparing your entry to the “AllSTEM, allstars“ competition

How will you help young people explore the world of possibilities with STEM subjects and careers?

Participate in the Back to School campaign by sharing your plan with us!

Back to School slogans: Open doors to fascinating STEM careers during Back to School with STEM Alliance

Explore a world of opportunities with STEM careers during Back to School with STEM Alliance

Shape bright minds and futures with STEM careers during Back to School with STEM Alliance

Spark an interest in STEM careers during Back to School with STEM Alliance

How can we spread the word?

Below are some materials you can use in your communication channels for the Back to School campaign - click the images to download the full-size version:

STEM Alliance official logo:

OVERVIEW KEY DATES Download our posters for your events!

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You can use it for social media posts, news items, blog entries, events, etc. You can crop the image if needed, but remember to keep the text and the STEM Alliance logo visible!

STEM Alliance visual identity guide

How can we promote online?

Social Media

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In your newsletter

EVENT IDEAS

[YOUR ORG NAME] is proud to support STEM Alliance during their Back to School campaign and open doors to fascinating STEM careers!

VIDEO IDEAS

Join STEM Alliance and explore the fascinating world of STEM with events, workshops, chats, webinars, forum discussions, competitions and much more!

[YOUR OWN INITIATIVE WITHIN STEM DISCOVERY WEEK HERE].

Please visit stemalliance.eu to get involved, sign up for regular updates and find out how to apply for any planned activities and competitions. For more details, contact stemalliance@eun.org

Don’t forget to tag us! /StemAllianceEU @stemalliance_eu http://eepurl.com/bT3AUj

# back2stem

“All-STEM, all-stars” Competition “All-STEM, all-stars” is an international competition in which teachers can creatively express how they are making STEM education better and motivating young people to pursue STEM subjects and careers.

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event category

video category

community category

Organise a STEM event together with companies or other teachers to raise student interest in STEM subjects and careers!

Submit your event to us and it will be added to the STEM Alliance event map!

Submit a video and/or a presentation showing ways of stimulating and attracting students to STEM careers using school and industry collaboration activities and ways you connect your STEM lessons to real-life situations in companies.

Be our reporter on STEM Education events using events haghtag and #AllSTEM in your social media. Example of events:

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 28th February 2017

• 28. September 2016 Researchers Night • 7. and 8. October 2016 TTTNET CONFERENCE 2016: INNOVATIVE SCIENCE EDUCATION

PARTICIPATE AND WIN AN ALL-EXPENSES-PAID VISIT TO BRUSSELS!

SHARE YOUR STORY! HOW DO STEM SUBJECTS INSPIRE YOUNG MINDS TO BUILD, CREATE, EXPLORE AND DREAM?

What events can we organise?

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There are a number of ways you can get your students, class, year level, school and community involved in the Back to School campaign. Your participation can be as simple as a display in the school library, or as complex as a whole-school science fair. Here are a few examples:

Invite a professional from an industry or local company to your school to talk about STEM sector and careers

Organise a poster presentation in your school on STEM topics

Organise a visit in a company with your school

Bring a researcher to your classroom

Organise a class visit to a company

Organise a schoolwide quiz and give out prizes

Challenge students to create lessons with the help of company STEM education resources

Have your class participate in a video chat with a industry expert

Announce a competition for most impressive experiment

What videos and presentations can we create?

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With the videos you create about your STEM activities throughout the academic year, you will have the opportunities to showcase the best ways to introduce students to STEM subjects and careers and motivate them to choose them for their future development.

Be creative with your content! Tell a story. Convince us that your project or lesson is a great example of STEM learning.

Introduce your topic, explain it, then tell us about its impact.

Include a title at the opening and credits at the end. For more clarity, you can use a narrator or an on-camera host to explain the details of your initiative.

Some ideas for videos:

Examples:

Interviews with STEM professionals

EPCA Role Models

Amgen Interviews

Videos with facts about STEM and why we need STEM education

STEM Education Overview

A video documenting a project you’ve carried out with your students

Amazing Experiments with Water in a Vacuum Chamber

A short educational video on a STEM concept of your choice

Japanese Multiplication

Students sharing their opinions and preconceptions about STEM

STEM student perspectives

Shell: Innovating to shape the world’s energy future