WAUSAU – Northcentral Technical College recently hosted leaders from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh at its Wausau campus as part of an initiative that’s designed to spark interest in STEM learning and help the region grow its own STEM workforce.
The initiative is called Exploring Making through Mobile Emerging Technology, or EMMET, and it will use a mobile trailer with technical equipment that can be driven to communities across north central Wisconsin. NTC partnered with area school districts and community-based organizations, and a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to help deliver STEM making and computer programming curriculum to rural communities with limited access to this type of opportunity.
The project is backed by a $1.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation, marking the first time NTC has been the lead institution on an NSF award, according to a NTC news release.
NTC is collaborating with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to help train 32 maker mentors from local high schools and technical college classrooms. Maker mentors will learn how to support the making process in an informal learning environment and gain skills to effectively engage, facilitate and lead a diverse audience of learners in maker mentor activities.
After being trained, maker mentors will be able to lead STEM learning activities in local communities.
Photo courtesy NTC. Leaders from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh train EMMET maker mentors at NTC.
