S.T.E.M.

Franklin at Sunset! Amazing drone image by one of our Macon Middle School STEM pilots in Mr. Wilkinson's class, Juan Olvera Mandujano. Absolutely phenomenal!

Students from Mr. Shepherd's Appalachian Culture class visited the Foxfire Village to learn more about traditional skills and crafts including blacksmithing, weaving, log cabin building, cooking over an open fire, and much more. This interdisciplinary project-based course integrates history, language art, art, music, science, and math. Thank you to the Dogwood Health Trust and Open Way Learning for supporting project-based learning at Macon Early College.

Students in the Nantahala School STEM-E Club with Mrs. McMahan have been learning about flight using a National Inventors Hall of Fame curriculum! Thank you to the Cherokee Preservation Foundation for your support of this STEM program!

Please congratulate the 2023 7th-grade winners of the Paper Tower Design Challenge, Andrew, Aiden, and Jackson. These "future engineers" did an outstanding job designing, testing, and improving their projects. Job well done!

The STEM students at MMS are learning to write computer code. Our goal is to work in collaboration with our CTE classes on the chicken coup project. The STEM students will be writing code to automate the coup door, water, and feed.

Students in Mrs. Coker's Science classes learned about DNA today thanks to the Science House Mobile STEM Lab. Thank you to the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, STEM-E Grant through WRESA, and the NC State Science House for their support of this program!

Students in Annie Hornsby's STEM-E Experimental Design class​ earned top honors at the Western Region Science Fair at WCU last week. Congratulations to Abigail Elliott got an Honorable Mention in the category of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Zach Gibson for 3rd place in the Physics Category and, Asher Merritt who won first place in the Engineering category and qualified for the State Science Fair in Raleigh.

The Macon Bots Robotics Team recently attended the Challenger Center in Chattanooga, TN, and the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. The students were learning about the history of the space program in preparation for their upcoming robotics challenge! Thank you to the Smoky Mountain STEM Collaborative Grant through SCC and NASA for making this trip possible.

Macon Middle School Student Showcase of Work!

We are pleased to extend an invitation to you for the Mountain View Intermediate School solar panel dedication to be held in the morning on Friday, March 31. The installed educational solar array celebrates another ribbon cutting for our program, a funding partnership between NC GreenPower donors, the State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation and the school community. Mountain View School was a recipient in our Program Year 2020. We would be honored if you could attend. Please see the attached PDF or additional information. Date: Friday, March 31, 2023 from 8:15am – 8:45am Location: Mountain View Intermediate School: 161 Clarks Chapel Rd. Franklin, NC 28734 The solar installation is located in the bus parking area off Wells Grove Rd. Questions? Please contact Jennifer Love, STEM Coordinator jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us, 828-524-3314 Ext. 1015 As of 2022, donors have helped fund solar installations at 70+ K-12 schools in more than 40 unique counties, reaching nearly 55,000 students. To date, the schools have collectively produced an estimated 842,000 kilowatt hours of green energy, a savings of about $84,000. Thank you for your support of NC GreenPower Solar Schools!

Summer Camp Opportunities through Western Carolina University! Registration opens March 1. https://www.wcu.edu/engage/professional-enrichment/camps-and-programs-for-kids/ Tales From the Dead: An Introduction to Forensic Anthropology For High School Students June 12-16, 2023 | 9:00am-4:00pm Ages 15-18 Registrations opening March 1st at 9:00am: Visit camps.wcu.edu to get more information about summer day-camps offered by WCU. Robotics with LEGOs Exploring Nature Writing Nature Step Back in Time Rocket to Creativity Photovoice The Science of Forensics for Elementary School Students For more information, contact Educational Outreach (828.227.7397, ).

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont Careers in Natural Resources Camp July 17-21, 2023 Rising 8th - 12th grade students Interested in a career in the outdoors? Join us for a week in Great Smoky Mountains National Park where you will learn about and experience a variety of careers available in the Smokies. See the flyer for more information and to register.

Collaboration is an important life skill! Macon Middle School teachers Mr. Wilkinson (STEM) and Mr. Greenwood (CTE Carpentry) will be working together to teach students about the engineering, physics, and construction of a soap box derby car this semester. In April, the winning car will have the opportunity to compete in the NC Gravity Games (http://www.ncgravitygames.com/)! How cool is that!? The skills they will be learning are integral to the NC Portrait of a Graduate (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/operation-polaris/portrait-graduate).

Macon Middle School STEM students are off to a great start this semester! They are practicing "Portrait of a Graduate" (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/operation-polaris/portrait-graduate) skills such as collaboration, communication, and problem solving through our STEM classes!

Paid Summer Research Programs! NSF, NASA, NIH, etc. -- 700+ programs: Most programs offer both a stipend and housing and travel support. Programs range across all STEM disciplines and all areas of the country! Click on "Programs for High School Students" Use the advanced search page to filter programs by multiple criteria There are also opportunities for K-8 students for summer programs. https://pathwaystoscience.org/K12.aspx

This week, ARC opened applications for two summer study opportunities for Appalachian students: the Appalachian Entrepreneurship Academy (AEA) and the Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge. The Appalachian Entrepreneurship Academy, hosted in Boone, North Carolina at Appalachian State University, seeks high school students interested in nurturing creative ideas and developing skills for entrepreneurial success. https://www.arc.gov/appalachian-entrepreneurship-academy/ AEA seeks middle and high school students, and high school teachers, who are ready to work alongside award-winning scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For the first time ever, we're also expanding our middle school sessions to allow twice as many students to participate. https://www.arc.gov/arc-oak-ridge-summer-program/ Applications for both programs are due February 10, 2023.

Iotla Elementary, East Franklin Elementary and Cartoogechaye Elementary STEAM classes have been learning about computer programming and robotics this month to celebrate Computer Science Week! Students are using KIBO Robots to learn how to complete various tasks through coding! This project incorporates literacy, communication, collaboration, problem solving, creativity, and persistence!

Over 1,000 ​Macon County students participated in the Hour of Code this year. This program allows students to experience coding through game-based programming. Code.org is a free coding platform with activities for students in grades K-12.

Summer 2023 Applications Open Now! https://www.ncssm.edu/ We are pleased to invite you to apply for Summer 2023 Early Accelerator (5th-6th), Accelerator (7th-9th), and Accelerator (10th-12th). Apply now by clicking https://ncssm.campintouch.com/ui/forms/application/camper/App _______________________________________________________________ Great News! Day programs are now available for rising 7th-12th graders! NCSSM - Morganton will offer day camp courses at the North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies (NCCET) in Hickory, NC. Check out those listing under the Accelerator 7th-9th and Accelerator 10th-12th pages! _______________________________________________________________ Admissions are made on a rolling basis. Applications are reviewed and admissions decisions are made once per month. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at summer@ncssm.edu.

Macon STEM and the Macon Bots Robotics Program will be hosting a "Legos, Lunch & Learn with Lego Robotics" program on December 19th (teacher workday) from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Students will need to bring their own lunch and there is a suggested minimum donation of $15.00 per student. All proceeds go to the Macon Bots Robotics Program. To register, please go to https://sugeni.us/dGfq or use the QR code on the flyer. This program is open to students from Macon County Schools in 3rd - 5th grade only.