Forum Highlights, PreK-Elementary PD, Community Events!
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💐 Welcome, May!
Hello, {{Constituent First Name}}, Please see this month's updates from the Columbia Gorge STEM Hub.
✨In this edition: Forum Highlights, K-12 Educator Opportunities, CTE Regional Advisory Committee, & Community Events!
STEM Hub News and Updates
🌟Join the conversation - Visit our Forum! We can’t wait to connect with you!
🌟Forum Highlights: The STEM Hub is thrilled to introduce a dynamic space where educators and industry partners can come together to: ✨ Connect and collaborate ✨ Share resources, strategies, and opportunities ✨ Ask questions and exchange ideas
☀️This Month's Featured Forum Posts are linked below:
Educator Recognition
⭐Educator Spotlight: Leslie Wetherall and Julie Cucuel⭐
Leslie Wetherell of Arlington School District and Julie Cucuel, Director of the Columbia Gorge STEM Hub, have been honored with the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Math Educator Award for their outstanding contributions to math education. Both were nominated by Keelie Caudill of the North Central Education Service District (NCESD) in Condon. Leslie has transformed math instruction for grades 7–12 by implementing the “Thinking Classrooms” framework and sharing her practices regionally, while Julie has expanded professional learning across five counties through events like a Crafting Inquiry workshop with renowned math experts from Stanford University, virtual book studies, and Mindset Mathematics workshop sessions. Their leadership, innovation, and dedication to supporting both students and educators have made a lasting impact on math education in Columbia River Gorge region. Congratulations!
Educators from North Wasco County School District, Dufur School District and Columbia Gorge Education Service District at Crafting Inquiry Conference earlier this year
🍎North Wasco County Education Foundation's Golden Apple Award
Help celebrate the 5th Annual Golden Apple Awards by nominating a teacher, support staff member, administrator, coach, or dedicated volunteer someone who’s gone above and beyond this school year
6-7 PM: Early STEM Collective - A space for preschool and elementary educators to collaborate, share STEM resources, and discuss classroom strategies.
7-8 PM: Early Learning Advisory Group - An advisory meeting for educators and stakeholders to provide feedback and guidance for STEM Hub efforts.
📐MS/HS Teachers: Teachers’ Day at DAMOP - Monday, June 16
📆Monday, June 16, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Oregon Convention Center, Portland
Attend a free, hands-on Teachers’ Day for middle and high school educators to explore engaging, classroom-ready quantum science activities—no prior experience needed. Led by expert scientists and educators, the event includes professional development sessions and materials to use with your students.
HS Math Teachers, Administrators, Counselors - Register by May 19
Lane and Multnomah ESD math specialists, in partnership with ODE, have hosted a series of meetings during the 2024-2025 school year to support districts with their Oregon HS Math Pathways Model (2+1) efforts. Teams of 3 (admin, teacher, counselor) or districts new to +1 design or already engaged are welcomed to register by Monday, May 19th!
🤖K-12: ORTOP Robotics Coaching FREE Training Sessions (May-July)
Join ORTOP this spring and summer for a series of FREE virtual and in-person workshops to learn about FIRST Robotics and how to coach students through LEGO SPIKE Prime programming!
🛰K-12: Kickoff Meetup: Hood River AI Collective - Wednesday, May 14
📆Wednesday, May 14, 5-7pm, Double Mountain Brewery, Hood River
Join the Hood River AI Collective’s kickoff meetup for a casual evening of connecting, sharing, and learning about AI with others in the Gorge—no presentations, just real conversations and community.
🛴K-12: Clean Energy Fellows 25-26 Cohorts - Apply by June 22
CE – Clean Energy. Bright Futures. is looking for passionate educator-leaders for the upcoming school year. Fellows will drive lasting impact in clean energy and natural resource education through curriculum development, new programs, or project expansion in their communities. This year, they are recruiting for four distinct educator cohorts.
🔭HS: Patterns Science Summer Courses 2025 This is the final summer Oregon teachers can attend for free through the WRAP grant, ending August 2025. Explore over 1,000 curriculum updates—especially new content in Units 4–6 for returning participants. Rural teachers can apply for areimbursable stipendto help cover costs. 👉Click here for the Summer 2025 Course Guideor email David Strayer at david.strayer@pdxstem.org for questions.
👨🏫HS: Job Opportunity: CTE Agricultural Teacher/Metals Tech/Plant Science/Wood Tech Teacher - Hood River Valley High School
Geared toward elementary grades and up, Edison is a programmable robot designed to be a complete STEM teaching resource for coding and robotics education.
Items are available for use at no-charge to educators across our 5-county region and include delivery to/from your school.
The University of Portland STEM Education and Outreach Center offers a self-paced online course about plate tectonics, earthquake, and tsunami in the Pacific Northwest.
🌳Oregon Agriculture In the Classroom: Agriculture in the Classroom is a nationwide educational program designed to help students develop an understanding that agriculture is the source of our food, clothing, shelter and other essentials. Explore just some of their great resources!
Virtual Beef and Cattle Workshop: This FREE workshop is open to educators K-12 with Next Generation Science Standards aligned curriculum
Career Connected Learning Opportunities
👩💼CTE Advisory Launch & Industry Engagement Campaign - Join us!
On March 13, 51 educators, administrators, and industry partners gathered at The Dalles High School for the first CTE Regional Advisory Committee meeting, focused on expanding career pathways and hands-on learning. As part of a broader Gorge STEM Hub Industry Engagement Campaign, we’re building a regional directory to connect classrooms with local professionals across key sectors. This tool will encourage new collaborations, offer students authentic industry exposure, and help grow a stronger, locally rooted STEM workforce. To do that, we’re collecting information from industry partners on how they’d like to engage—through classroom visits, site tours, mentorship, guest speaking, project-based learning, and more.
👉Industry partners interested in engaging are encouraged to reach out to Kate Wurster at kwurster@cgesd.k12.or.us.
👨⚕️Oregon's Career Connected Learning Resource Hub
Career Connect Oregon is a go-to resource for K-12 educators and students alike for exploring, planning, and accessing career-connected learning opportunities across Oregon.
👨💻Encourage Your CTE Students to Lead: Invite them to apply for the 25-26 CTE Advisory Council
Do you know a high school or community college student passionate about CTE? Encourage them to apply for the 2025–2026 CTE Student Advisory Council, a statewide group that meets regularly to ensure student voices help shape the future of CTE in Oregon.
Applications are due Wednesday, May 14, 2025 (some flexibility available).
🎨Wasco County Childrens' Fair - Save the Date of May 17, 2025!
🏓Saturday, May 17th from 10am–2pm at The Dalles City Park
➗MS/HS: Math Day at CGCC on Friday, May 16 - Register Your Class Today!
Math Day is a field trip event for local middle and high schoolers (grades 6–12). 🏓Friday, May 16th, The Dalles campus, Columbia Gorge Community College
Oregon AHEC Health Care Career Exploration Day Camp (3-days, August)
🏓Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) – Portland
📅 August 4, 6, 11, 9 AM - 4 PM
Oregon AHEC Health Care Career Exploration Day Camp is a free, hands-on experience for Oregon high school students interested in health care careers. This one-day camp features hands-on medical simulations, expert speakers and career exploration in fields like medicine, nursing and research.
Climb aboard big rigs and specialty vehicles at this hands-on family event! Join us outside Wonderworks in The Dalles from 9:30am–12:30pm for a fun-filled morning exploring trade industries up close.
Inspire your imagination and develop STEM skills with these FREE eventsincluding theseAdults Intro to AI eventsin May. Build and explore using LEGO® bricks, blocks, boxes, or other fun materials.
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