STEAM Newsletter – Celebrating Juneteenth & Pride
June 30, 2023

STEAM Newsletter
Photo of Emancipation Day celebration held on June 19, 1900

It’s the beginning of summer! The month held summer solstice, Juneteenth, Pride, and brain awareness month. There is much to celebrate as the school year ends and out-of-school activities move outdoors!

This month we celebrate Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Liberation Day, also known as Juneteenth. This marks the anniversary of Union troops landing at Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War ended and enslaved people were now free.

In communities from coast to coast, children, families, and loved ones gather to honor the jubilee of their ancestors’ freedom and their hope for future generations. Whether this is your first year recognizing Juneteenth or your 90th year, we encourage you to reflect, act and celebrate with others in your community to ensure an equitable world for all. 

We celebrate the incredible contributions the Black community have contributed to STEAM over the years! Did you know a Black inventor, Garrett Morgan, invented the three-light traffic signal? Or that our beloved peanut butter was invented by George Washington Carver, a Black agricultural chemist? Learn more about how our Black community has contributed to STEAM by clicking here and here!

We also celebrate and stand along side our LGTBQ+ community this month and every month. Click here to learn more on our June general newsletter!

In This Newsletter:

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CA team standing on stage for a team photo with the blue Million girls Moonshot background

CAN & Friends at the 2023 Girls Build Solutions Showcase!

The California AfterSchool Network, our CA Million Girls Moonshot Community of Practice members from Alameda, Orange, Sacramento, and San Diego STEAM Hubs & County Offices of Education, and CA STEAM partners recently attended the 2023 Girls Build Solutions conference in Atlanta, GA and we had a blast!

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Student with thought bubbles with words saying Asking Purposeful Questions

ACRES Training Cohort: Asking Purposeful Questions
Fridays: 07/07/2023, 07/212023, 08/04/2023 10:00 - 12:00 pm PST

Questions begin a path toward discovery, imagination, and STEM exploration. How can we help youth expand and clarify their thinking and develop their reasoning through the questions we ask them? This module is a great way to train staff on how to facilitate STEM learning. Experienced educators also love being part of a cohort as a way to connect with other educators across the country, to learn new lesson plans, and to reflect on practice.  This is our introductory module and a prerequisite to other opportunities.

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STEM Micro-Credential workshop flyer. Competency based digital badges for out-of-school professionals. Thursday, July 20th at 4:30-5:30 PM PST Wednesday, September 6th at 9-10 AM PST Wednesday, November 8th at 5-6 PM PST

ACRES STEM Micro-Credential Workshop
Thursday, July 20th at 4:30-5:30 PM PST Wednesday, September 6th at 9-10 AM PST Wednesday, November 8th at 5-6 PM PST

ACRES (Afterschool Coaching for Reflective Educators in STEM) is excited to offer workshops about STEM micro-credentials, which are competency-based, digital badges for afterschool and out-of-school professionals offered through the National Afterschool Association. These sessions are free, live, interactive, and one hour in length. REGISTER HERE

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Flyer saying: Hiring Interns or Teen Leaders for the Summer? A new self directed, online, leadership course for high school and college-aged people designed by Click2ComputerScience

Hiring Interns or Teen Leaders for the Summer?
Asynchronous Course

Click2ComputerScience’s new course, Teens Learning to Lead, is a great way to help new interns get prepared for working with youth.  It is a leadership course for high school and college-aged people designed for participants to complete on their own, or with a team.  We recommend that teams who will be teaching together over the summer complete the course together. Participants will need a computer and a journal for reflecting on their learning.  The reflection points can be the basis for discussions with a supervisor.

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Pride 2023 with globe in the center

Activity Playlist

Looking for a sequence of activities you can implement in your afterschool program today? Say goodbye to googling or searching on Pinterest. Use the following activities in sequence to support youth in building an engineering mindset. 

  • Historical legacy of Juneteenth: Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day and Liberation Day, is an American holiday celebrated annually on June 19. It is the oldest, national commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the U.S. Celebrate with your youth with these resources from the National Museum of African American History.
  • Celebrating Pride Month in STEM: To celebrate Pride month, we’ve rounded up resources, networks, blogs and more from the Science Council membership.
  • LGBTQ+ in STEM: A guide that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more (LGBTQ+) people, organizations, and history in the fields of STEM. The guide includes resources, articles, podcasts, and events.
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Room to Read logo

No Budget? No Problem!
No Cost Resources

  • Website: Three Ways Educators Can Shift the Way They Talk About Science – Blog post with simple suggestions for educators based on research conducted by Amanda Cardarelli at NYU. 
  • Website: International Women in Engineering Day – Organized by Women’s Engineering Society, the day (June 23, 2023) is an international awareness campaign to raise women’s profile in engineering and focus attention on the career opportunities available to girls in engineering. 
  • Website: Room to Read STEAM Powered Careers Collection – Room to Read’s STEAM-Powered Careers collection presents 10 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics-themed books to inspire first through third graders about the wide variety of groundbreaking and exciting STEAM careers that they can start exploring right now. Created in collaboration with scientists, staff and faculty from the University of Southern California (USC), the collection explores topics ranging from polar science to gastroenterology to nanotechnology and more.
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Picture of mentor. Words say connect STEM experts with out-of-school programs

Mentors Matter!
Recruit STEM Experts as Volunteers

Less than 50% of high school girls know a woman in a STEM career. Let’s change that – recruit STEM professionals to support the youth you serve today!

The Moonshot helps to connect STEM experts with OST programs! Share your program’s volunteer opportunities for STEM experts to work with your youth today! Register here to find role models and mentors in STEM.