AWARD YEAR: 2018

Stanford Hill PhD
Assistant Director, Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning (CERTL)
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
CERTL
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, NC 27157
Phone:  336/713-7741

Project Title:  Girls in STEM:  A Piedmont Triad Initiative

Wake Forest School of Medicine's Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning (CERTL) has created a comprehensive STEM satellite programs for a cohort of female middle school students at two schools within the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina by partnering with Davidson and Surry County Schools to create "Girls in STEM:  A Piedmont Triad Initiative."  This partnership delivers STEM-based yearlong programs through an inquiry-based learning (IBL) model that aligns with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, including a weeklong summer intensive STEM experience within each district and a yearlong follow-up program.  The follow-up program consists of two visits to the Bowman Gray Center for Medical Education in Winston Salem, North Carolina for a fall and a spring summit, once a month after school activities, and quarterly progress report meetings with their school administrators in their home schools to monitor their academic progress and guide them toward more rigorous STEM-related courses.  The fall and spring summits connect student participants with female STEM professionals and faculty from Wake Forest University and Wake Forest School of Medicine.  An after school STEM activity occurs once a month in each of the partnering schools led by their female CERTL Train the Trainer STEM teachers from the summer experience component.  A yearlong project-based learning component is launched during the summer experience that is continued throughout the school year via Edmodo, a global education network that helps connect learners with teachers and resources.  The project component culminates at the end of the school year with a presentation to their parents, teachers and administrators, and CERTL staff.  This program serves 40 female middle school students from these two low-wealth school districts to improve their knowledge of STEM-based content and improve their academic performance in order for them to enroll in higher-level STEM classes and possibly pursue careers in STEM-related fields.

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