October 2021

It’s Gametime, and We’re Scoring with STEM!

If you’ve seen our emails or followed our social media recently, you know we’ve had a big announcement coming. And the day is finally here.

We’re thrilled to announce the Cleveland Cavaliers have chosen us to lead 2022 STEM Day March 19, 2022, at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. 

Elementary and middle school students and their families from across northeast Ohio will be invited to attend a day of fun, STEM-focused learning events showcasing the intersections of science, technology, engineering, and math with sports. After the day’s events, they’ll stay for the evening game and root for the Cavs as they take on the Detroit Pistons.

And they’re relying on the NeoSTEM community to make the day a great one.

“We’re going to be inviting back some students, and hopefully introducing many new students and their families to come out to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on the day of a Cavs game, experience some incredible immersive learning around STEM, and attend the game that evening against the Detroit Pistons,” said Melanie Seiser, senior director of group sales and development for the Cavs.

“We’re turning it over to the experts to put our programming together, where we can get STEM connected with sports, where we can get sports enthusiasts connected with STEM, and ultimately create some lasting connections with the students that attend, their families that attend, and have a ton of fun,” Seiser said.

Join our first event planning team meeting Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. to learn more. You can join the meeting by following this link. And if you can’t make the first meeting, don’t worry. There will be a number of ways to engage with this exciting opportunity, and we’ll continue to provide updates on planning, working groups, and development sessions. To join our planning team and receive regular progress updates, please complete this Google survey and let us know how you can help.

In other Ecosystem news:

• Andrea Vullo, a consultant for Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC and co-leader of the Planning and Career Exploration (PACE) program in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, joined us to discuss how NeoSTEM business and industry partners can play a direct role in impacting students. 
• Our attendees broke out into small groups to get to know one another, and to think about ways to drive our collective vision to provide STEM education at the community level. Their thoughts were amazing:

Reach out to community partners, such as city council and city leaders, to streamline communications and  ensure experiences are equitable.

Embed both formal and informal programming in community gathering places like libraries, schools, and community centers – places where people feel comfortable.

Meet people where they are.

Find creative ways to build connections in a virtual landscape.

Bring STEM to students and families, particularly to lower-income families. We can’t expect them to come to us.

Focus on unique resources within individual communities – daycare centers, libraries, parks.

The NeoSTEM Ecosystem holds a virtual, open forum at 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday each month, and encourages everyone to join in the conversation. Our next meeting is November 2, and you can register for the meeting here.

For more information, contact Alyssa Lenhoff-Briggs at alyssabriggs@tiesteach.org, or John Roszczyk at john@neostem.org. And please contact John if you’d like a list of regular meeting attendees, their organizations, and email addresses.