Volunteer News!
*Due to COVID 19, no visitors or volunteers are allowed in the building at this time. Volunteer requirements will be adjusted as needed. If you are making a donation, please keep track of your donated items for the time being until we provide additional instructions on how to log your hours.
We need Driveline Volunteers
If you have some extra time in the mornings or afternoons, please consider signing up to volunteer for our Secondary School Driveline. We need volunteers to help from 7:20-7:50 a.m. with unloading students from their cars and directing cars through the parking lot. In the afternoon, we need volunteers to help from 2:30-3:15 p.m. to assist with student safety and traffic in the parking lot.
If you are interested, please enter through the Middle School lobby, register as a visitor and complete the health screening form. Masks are required.
Donations Needed!
Additionally, we have an ongoing need for classroom and healthroom donations. Click the link to the right to see all of the donation items that we are collecting for, and to sign up.
FREE Meals for Hybrid and Virtual Learners from DCSD
Nutrition Services is excited to announce that, effective immediately, ALL meals served in school are now free for all students. Free meals include all entrees (except Subway at High Schools) with fruit or veggies, and/or milk. As a reminder, STEM does not serve breakfast.
For Virtual/Online Learners, DCSD will begin weekly remote meal bag pick-ups at all neighborhood Elementary and Middle Schools in Douglas County (pick-up not available at STEM) every Friday from 1-2 p.m. These bags will contain five breakfast/lunches for Virtual/Online Learners and three breakfast/lunches for Hybrid learners. Meal pick-ups do NOT require pre-order. Simply pull up to our curbside pickup locations and request a meal for kids, just like our Summer Feeding sites. Kids do not need to attend DCSD Schools and do not need to be present for pickup.
Info about PSAT for 7th and 8th Graders
On October 6, STEM seventh and eighth grade students in Cohort A will take the PSAT 8/9, and on October 8, seventh and eighth grade students in Cohort B will take the PSAT 8/9. This assessment is not part of the state-mandated accountability testing, but an opportunity for parents, students and teachers to see what skills students need in order to prepare for high school and college. More information about the PSAT 8/9 can be found here. Also, click here to view the PSAT 8/9 Overview that includes the schedule for October 6 & 8, as well as FAQs.
Career Discovery Event: Engineering the Future of Healthcare
Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 3-4 p.m. MST via zoom
Presenter: Stryker – The 3D Printing Store – CoorsTek
Secondary students and their teachers are invited to attend live via zoom. This Career Discovery event is designed to inspire and inform students about the intersection of technology and engineering in healthcare.
Presenters will send us links, articles, or questions students research before the presentation. They will challenge our students and staff to solve one of their industry problems. Presenters will let us know the best way to find answers, discover more, and connect with SME (subject matter experts) in simple, meaningful ways.
The students are expected to come to the presentation with curiosity and questions.
We will ask all students who participate in the session to provide a paragraph explaining what they learned, what they still want to know, and what they will do with what they have learned.
ZOOM Invitation: https://zoom.us/j/392776942
Please email gregg.cannady@stemk12.org to receive accompanying links and materials.
Career Discovery Event: Making the Cut "Your Path to Becoming a Surgeon"
Thursday, Oct. 8 from 4-5 p.m. MST via zoom
Presenter: Dr. Andrew P. Rabenstein – Chief Resident, Surgery, Stony Brook University
Secondary students and their teachers are invited to attend live via zoom. This Career Discovery event is designed to inspire and inform students who are interested in the journey to becoming a surgeon.
Dr. Rabenstein will send us links, articles, or questions students research before the presentation. He will let us know the best way to find answers, discover more, and connect with SME (subject matter experts) in simple, meaningful ways.
The students are expected to come to the presentation with curiosity and questions. We will ask all students who participate in the session to provide a paragraph explaining what they learned, what they still want to know, and what they will do with what they have learned.
ZOOM Invitation: https://zoom.us/j/392776942
Please email gregg.cannady@stemk12.org to receive accompanying links and materials.
DECA is off to a Great Start
DECA and FBLA business organizations are in full swing! STEM students recently competed in DECA District 4 Kick-Off Invitational. Students were tested on their business knowledge in four categories: Business, Hospitality, Marketing, and Finance.
Congratulations to:
- Beccan Gruenberg – Top STEM Chapter Test Score and First Place for Veteran Business Admin
- Bryson Alderidge – Second Place Veteran Business Admin
- Tyler Connelly – First Place New member Finance
The business students are innovative and resilient. Students were eager to participate, engage, and grow their leadership skills through these national programs. Chapter meetings are once a week via Zoom, Fridays, 3-3:30 p.m.
We welcome new members! Registration deadline October 1, 2020.
Cyberpatriot Information
Over the past few weeks, the Computer Science team has been working to develop what form our department’s clubs will take this academic year. This is pertaining specifically to Cyberpatriot for Middle and High School. With guidance from DCSD, we are happy to announce that we will have Cyberpatriot this Fall 2020; however, the format will be very different this year. We’ve given a lot of thought to this, and this is what form the club will take this academic year:
- There will be no official STEM meetings for Cyberpatriot this year. Instead, we will allow students to self-organize virtually. In other words, there are no STEM sponsored club meetings.
- Competitions will not be completed on campus. Students will be allowed to practice and compete from their homes.
- Links for the competition will be emailed out as we receive them.
- Official Competition Schedule
- For IT related issues, we will not be able to offer support.
Sign-Up Details:
For supervisory purposes, we request that each team have one parent volunteer to be their sponsor. Without a parent sponsor, we cannot register the team. Remember, teams are allowed to compete from their homes and students do not need to be at the same location.
We will be setting up teams through the Air Force Association. The AFA has a required fee for each team, so we’ll be requesting $85 per person this year to account for that cost. We’ll need to collect that amount prior to enrolling students on a team.
Each person will need to submit the fee and include:
- Team members names (max of 5, minimum of 3)
- School email addresses
- Requested team name
- Parent volunteer email
- Are you a middle school student (6-8) or a high school student (9-12) at STEM?
Do not email the teachers regarding registration. Rather once information is received and required fees posted in the link above, the CS Team will import the data for those teams on Thursday, Oct. 1 by 5 p.m. Once this is compiled, the CS Team will email students more information. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 5 p.m.
If you have questions, the Middle School contact is Simi.Basu@stemk12.org. The High School contact is Cameron.Ryan@stemk12.org.
Science Olympiad Interest Form
Hey STEM students! Science Olympiad is starting up again this year and we’d like to provide the opportunity for anybody interested in participating to join us. For those of you who have never done Science Olympiad before, it is a series of science competitions spanning many areas of science, from chemistry to engineering to ornithology and paleontology. It’s done with a team of students and is also a load of fun. If you’re interested, please fill out the form below.
Opportunities for Female Computer Science Students
Registration for the Fall 2020 Colorado School of Mines Virtual DECtech Outreach Program for Girls is open.
Building upon our success with virtual camps this summer, we are hard at work creating all new activities to engage girls in STEM. As always, DECtech sessions are developed and led by female Mines students who are both passionate about their subjects of study and sharing this passion with the next generation of leaders and innovators. Zoom group sizes are kept small in order to encourage engagement and participation; and activities are interactive and hands-on.
Student Virtual Prototyping Design Challenge
MakerBot is offering a chance for students to win a MakerBot 3D Printer with the Student Virtual Prototyping Design Challenge.
Student Challenge Prompt: Create a design of something that will help your classmates and teachers excel with remote learning, whether that’s a pencil holder, a bookmark combined with a notepad or a device that can store both your calculator and erasers. The challenge deadline has been extended to October 12, 2020 to make sure students have enough time to submit their design submissions. Click the register button below to find out more.
Enrichment Offerings
We’ve been adding new Enrichment offerings each week. Take a look at what is available for Elementary, Middle and High School students.
Enrichment Highlight this week:
Classical Guitar Classes with Alfredo Muro
This announcement if for Secondary Students at STEM interested in guitar instruction in classical, Latin, Spanish and jazz. Internationally acclaimed guitarist, Alfredo Muro, will be the instructor. More information can be found under the the STEM enrichment program.
Attendance Reminders
Attendance Line – 303-683-7836
- Please call the line before class begins to let us know if your student will be tardy or absent for hybrid OR virtual students – otherwise they will be marked unexcused.
- Please visit the student/parent Handbook to review the attendance policy.
- Virtual students that opt to attend in person classes must do so on their assigned cohort days only. The student must check in at the front office before attending class.
Early Dismissal
- Students will be excused to leave class with an Early Leave pass from the office. The student may exchange a note from the parent for the pass at the office. Younger Elementary students may need to rely on their parents calling the office ahead of time to set up an early release.
- Students will still need to be signed out by a parent at the respective office (Elementary or Secondary).
- The course of action that will cause the least amount of disruption to the classroom is to:
- Pick your student up during passing period
- Send a note in with your student to receive an Early Dismissal Pass (students will be able to show this to their teacher before class begins, and leave at the appropriate time).
- NO unscheduled early pickups will be allowed after 1:15 pm.
*Parents MUST call the attendance line when student is not following the Academic plan that was chosen.
Secondary Yearbook Info
All Secondary Students can pick up their yearbooks from last school year at the Middle School Front Office. People who have yet to purchase their yearbooks from the 2019-2020 school year and would like one can email sherry.wise@stemk12.org to request and get payment information.
Senior Photo Information
The last date to submit a senior picture for the yearbook is October 30, 2020. Aaron Guggenheim (aaron.guggenheim@stemk12.org) is our new Yearbook Advisor. Click here to view a helpful flier with important date and information on photos.
SpartMart News
If you pre-ordered face masks or gators they have arrived and are at the MS Office for pick up. If you are a fully remote student, please come to school to pick up your purchases. Spart Mart does not have shipping capabilities at this time. Click the button to the right if you would like to purchase one. We have youth and adults sizes available.
Canvas Parent Resources
IT News
Has your student received a message similar to the image to the right? If so, that is a message from our IT Department. We are working to bring all of the student Zoom accounts into the school account. If your student sees a message like this, please approve the request. Any questions can be submitted via a ticket to support@stemk12.org.
