Student Showcase
The Student Showcase during STEAM Week was fantastic! It was easy to see the passions shine through students’ understanding of the academics. Topics ranged from architecture to shelter designs for emergencies. One student started a garden club, seeds in hand! The story he told us about his ‘why’ was enough to make our day and get us motivated to start at home right away. Hands-on learning that inspires students to be creative and work together is something we love to be a part of, and this group really has it down! Place-based learning is at its best when we can center student questions and help them navigate academics in ways that are personally and collectively meaningful.
We appreciate all of the hard work, practice, and planning it took for this day to be such a successful showcase! Of course, these amazing students have amazing teachers to guide their learning and should be recognized for this. Each year MiSTEM Region 2 holds a beautiful awards banquet for teachers receiving Educator of the Year awards and recognition from the network.
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Recognition Banquet
MiSTEM Region 2 works with six counties in Michigan: Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, and Washtenaw. The SEMIS Coalition works with teachers from some of these countries and the Leadership Team submitted nominations for the Educator of the Year awards. Two SEMIS Coalition teachers, Mr. John Kim II and Mr. James Barnes, became recipients of two of the three awards and they were recognized at an award ceremony banquet organized by MiSTEM Region 2 team and director, Scott Heister on Feb 27, 2025. Both teachers in Washtenaw County have done outstanding work engaging students into place-based experiential learning in STEM fields within their classrooms. James Barnes, featured here in the Sun Times News, teaches 3rd grade at Wylie Elementary School in Dexter, MI and was named the STEM Integration Educator of the Year. He teaches all subjects using a place-based framework and connects his students to their community, the natural world and the history of place creating culturally responsive teaching. John Kim II, named STEM Educator of the Year, teaches Manufacturing and Engineering at Ypsilanti Community High School and STEMM Middle College. His students have been actively part of supporting their school’s place-based and outdoor learning efforts including trail signs and irrigation systems. A huge thank you to Mr. Scott Heister for making this event so special each year!
Please don’t miss the State LEO Press Release from March 12, 2025: “Four local teachers honored for investment in STEM education, innovation in Michigan”
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