Our Forum will remain viewable but all posting and commenting features on forum posts will be disabled on October 15th. Moving forward, we encourage everyone to join us on our Groups page for continued connection and conversation!
👉View this month's featured group posts by clicking each image below:
Are you an instructional leader or director looking for high quality, free STEM PD for your staff? We'd love to share our knowledge with your team!
🏆Dufur School District's Sarah Anderson Named Regional Teacher of the Year
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), in partnership with the Oregon Lottery, announced Sarah Anderson as one of Oregon’s 16 2025-26 Regional Teachers of the Year! Sarah teaches 9-12th Grade Social Studies at Dufur School. Congratulations!
⭐Have an educator you would like to nominate for our monthly Educator Spotlight?Let us know! Email Nicole at ntolmie@cgesd.k12.or.us
Educator Opportunities
🧒PreK-1st Grade: Early STEM Collective and Advisory Meeting - Fall 2025
Preschool through first-grade educators and representatives from early-years-focused organizations in this region are invited to join & help guide STEM Hub initiatives so they reflect the needs and voices of our region.
📆 Tuesday, November 18th | 6:00–7:00 PM (Online) | $40 stipend available
🍁Oregon Computer Science Teacher's Association Fall Conference - FREE!
This year's conference theme is "AI: Empowering Educators, Guiding and Equipping Learners - Get Inspired and find effective teaching strategies for your classroom and beyond!"
Looking for resources to elevate your science teaching and learning strategies but are limited on time? Join ODE Science Education Specialist, Jamie Rumage, and Science Assessment Specialist, Dr. Mariela Salas Bao, for dynamic 30-minute sessions packed with resources, practical insights and innovative approaches to science teaching and learning.
Join the "Ctrl + AI(t) + Teach" Webinar Series from Infosys Foundation USA. All sessions are virtual, FREE & designed to help you explore practical, fun, and inclusive ways to teach AI!
🔨Lending Library: Don't Forget to Reserve Your Items!
Whether you're a classroom teacher or out-of-school educator, you get FREE access to a wide range of engaging educational resources—with all materials, delivery, and pickup included.
Career Tours are free, interactive, virtual field trips that inspire students to pursue careers of the future by exploring Amazon’s technologies. Tour whenever, wherever, on Kahoot!
This 3-year, NGSS-aligned curriculum brings Physics, Chemistry, and Biology to life through real-world phenomena, design challenges, and equitable teaching strategies.
What sets it apart:
Free and open-source (Creative Commons)
Focus on patterns, evidence-based reasoning, and student discourse
Robust teacher support through PD, workshops, and PLCs
👩💼STEM Village Partnership - Looking for industry partners to join us!
The STEM Village Partnership is an innovative outreach program bringing STEM career awareness directly to communities at high-traffic, family-friendly events like county fairs, school nights, and community festivals. With a variety of partnerships available, industry partners are invited to join us in inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals.
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the Gorge STEM Educator–Industry Matchmaking site — your go-to hub for sparking new collaborations between classroom and career. This regional directory makes it easy for educators to discover local industry professionals ready to engage with students through guest talks, job shadows, project partnerships, mock interviews, co-teaching, and more.
For industry partners eager to engage with students and educators in our region, we’ve made it simple: fill out this form to get matched and listed in our directory.
📓Community Collaboratory - Fall Meeting RESCHEDULED (November 4)
📅Tuesday, November 4 | 4:00–5:00 PM | via Zoom
Join a regional work group of community-based STEM leaders focused on out-of-school STEM learning. Our goal is for Gorge community members and families to recognize STEM skills as important for their children’s success and engage in STEM opportunities.
Together, we:
Exchange resources, knowledge and STEM Learning opportunities.
Share effective strategies for engaging youth and families
Explore new partnerships to expand our collective reach
👩💼PreK-12: CCL Field Trip Grants Now Open- Apply Today!
Thanks to support from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, this year's microgrants will fund field trips that spark student curiosity and explore diverse career pathways.
✨Who can apply: PreK–12 educators in Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman, Wasco, and Wheeler counties ✨What’s covered: $400–$1000 grants for Partner-Led or Educator-Led field trip experiences (larger proposals considered) ✨Apply early: First-come, first-served—awarded within 2 weeks until funds run out
Questions? Contact Julie Cucuel at jcucuel@cgesd.k12.or.us
Get ready for a spooky, slimy, and seriously FUN night at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum!
📅Friday, October 24 | 5–8 PM 🏓5000 Discovery Dr., The Dalles, OR 🎫FREE ADMISSION!
👻GNAC Trunk or Treats - October 15 & 16
Join the STEM Hub for TWO nights of treats, costumes, and community - all hosted by the Gorge Native American Collaborative!
🚀K-12: STEMtoSpace 2025: Free Virtual STEM Experience! From Dec 1–19 (flexible dates), connect your K–12 class, club, or homeschool group with U.S. Space Force Guardians for FREE virtual sessions exploring space careers, satellites, rocket science, and more!
Want to inspire young minds through robotics? Join the Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program (ORTOP) webinar to learn how you can volunteer with FIRST robotics in Oregon—supporting students in grades 2–12 as a referee, judge, coach, or mentor!
Join an ORTOP information session to learn more about how you can make a difference. Visit this websiteto learn more or email volunteering@ortop.org for more information.
👔HS: TiE Young Entrepreneurs Program Application
Do you know a budding entrepreneur? High school students can apply to participate in project-based curriculum that emphasizes design thinking and customer validation, providing students with hands-on experience in building a startup. Program scholarships are avaliable.
💻Got a STEM-tastic event coming up? We want to hear about it! 🧠
🎉 Whether it's robots, rockets, coding, or creative science fun — if it's STEM-related and happening in our community, we’d love to feature it in our newsletter and on our new community events page!
📩 Send us your event info we’ll share it to our new community events page: https://www.gorgestem.org/communityevents
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