Idaho teachers receive STEM training

Teachers across the Gem State are becoming more well-versed in STEM education.

Idaho Department of Education launched a program called I-STEM six years ago: Originally with just two training sites, there are now six all over the state.

Today, Eastern Idaho Technical College launched one of the trainings for teachers in the area.

A little over 90 teachers attended the event; they were broken off into “strands” that focused on a different emphasis of STEM education.

“STEM is critical to so many things we have in the future for the science, technology, engineering, and math: Being able to solve problems and create new solutions for things we have in the future is really important for our student” said Bonnie Wehausen, a strand leader for the I-STEM training at Eastern Idaho Technical College.

Teachers attend the event that partners with Idaho National Laboratories and several other organizations and universities throughout the state including: Boise State University, University of Idaho, the Yellowstone Association, Idaho Power, Idaho Technology Council, and many others.

The training is four days long and teachers leave with kits and tools to take back to their classrooms.

This year, teachers also left with tablets to incorporate technology into their educational initiatives.

“I just like science, so anything is fun to do with my team of teachers here, they’re all into it” said Heather George-Heaton, a science teacher who attended the training.

When asked what George-Heaton was most excited about leaving with, it wasn’t the tablet.

“Lots of cool ideas for the kids that they will hopefully enjoying doing some of these activities in class”