THE STEM CENTER

📌 Quick STEM Center Updates & Reminders

📦 Resource Checkouts: Ready for the Next Classroom

Beginning this year, the resource checkout form will include a quick acknowledgment asking you to return materials organized and in the same condition you received them.

Many of our resources move directly from one classroom to the next, so kits need to come back complete, organized, and ready to go! With one person managing the STEM Center, I don't always have time to reorganize or rebuild kits between checkouts.

Something went missing? It happens! Please let me know as soon as possible if an item is lost, broken, or missing. That gives me time to problem-solve, find a replacement, or make adjustments before the kit heads to the next classroom.

Thank you for helping take care of our shared resources so they're ready for the next group of students! 💚

📅 Booking a STEM Center Visit = 2 Quick Steps!

Just a reminder that scheduling a STEM Center experience requires both steps:

1️⃣ Reserve your date on the calendar.
This secures your spot.

2️⃣ Complete the STEM Visit Form on the left side of the page.
Tell me the standard, topic, or learning focus you'd like addressed so I can design the experience around what your students need.

• Please complete both steps when booking. Having that information from the beginning helps me plan the best experience for your students—and saves us both from a string of follow-up emails! 😊

🌿 Outdoor Learning Is HERE!

Remember voting last year? Students and staff across Wayne-Westland helped choose the locations for our new outdoor learning spaces, funded through the MiSTEM Playbook Grant.

📍 Wayne Memorial High School
📍 Walker-Winter Elementary

These spaces are designed for ALL district students and can be used year-round—fall leaves, winter snow, spring changes, and everything in between!

The best part? We've worked to remove the barriers.

🚌 Transportation is FREE.
🌳 Using the outdoor spaces is FREE.
🔎 Lessons and activities are available.
🪑 Equipment can be checked out and shipped to your building.
📅 Reserve the space so your class has room to explore.

Stay for 40 minutes or four hours. Come for one investigation or spend the day. Bring science outside—or math, ELA, social studies, art, or a combination of them. Meet a guest speaker there! There is no single “right” way to use these spaces.

🌿 Two Ways to Visit

Explore Independently: Reserve a space and lead your own experience. I can help you prepare with lessons, activities, and equipment before you go.

Want Me There With You? Sign up for a regular STEM Center field trip and note that you'd like your experience at an outdoor learning space instead of the STEM Center.

[🌳 RESERVE AN OUTDOOR LEARNING SPACE]
Walker: https://calendar.app.google/HoirZttNX6pHPXFj6

Wayne-Memorial: https://calendar.app.google/DGV92LTfpA2Uvwwg9

Classes visiting independently will go directly to the outdoor learning space—no need to enter Wayne Memorial or Walker-Winter.

🔎 Not Sure What You'd Do Outside?

That's okay! Nearly 20 district educators received outdoor learning training last year, and lesson plans and resources are being developed to help you get started. Equipment available through the STEM Center will include wagons, portable seating, magnifying glasses, investigation tools, and much more.

And you don't have to take a field trip at all. Start right outside your own building! Take students outside to notice, wonder, measure, observe, collect data, or investigate a question.

Want ideas? Email Karen at the STEM Center. I would love to help you get started! 🌎🌿

This is a work in progress. Soon, I plan to have an updated "DRAFT" of STEM activities that are 30-40 minutes in length, that tie into NGSS standards, follow the district scope & sequence, and utilize ELA, Math and SS skills. This will be a living document and is just meant to be an idea spring board. It is NOT mandatory, but will be engaging :)

Want to add to the document, please share your ideas with me!

💻🌱 Cybersecurity Partners with the STEM Center!

Beginning last spring, students in the Cybersecurity program at William D. Ford partnered with the STEM Center to bring technology into the STEM garden. Students installed sensors and began collecting real-world environmental data—and we now have more than three months of data to explore!

And yes, we're asking the important questions...like which plants might convince the deer to stop stealing our STEM vegetables. 🦌🥕

Despite our four-legged visitors, the garden produced eggplants, pumpkins, carrots, cucumbers, and more this summer!

📊 Now We're Leveling It Up!

This year, we hope to expand the project into a multi-site data investigation connecting:

📍 William D. Ford
📍 STEM Center
📍 Franklin Middle School
📍 Walker Outdoor Learning Space

Students will be able to collect, compare, and analyze data across different environments—and the possibilities for inquiry are HUGE.

What critters are visiting our spaces? 🦝
How do soil moisture levels compare? 💧
Do plants grow differently indoors versus outdoors? 🌱
How do conditions vary between locations? 🌡️

And those answers will lead to new questions, new hypotheses, and new investigations.

This is a project that can continue to grow right along with our plants. The sky's the limit on where student curiosity—and the data—can take us! 🌱📊💻

🔥 NEW at the STEM Center: xTool Laser Engraver!

We have a brand-new xTool laser engraver at the STEM Center—and it's available for staff to use!

Want to give it a try? Before using the xTool, staff will be required to complete a few quick online training videos covering the basics of safe and successful operation. (Don't worry—this isn't Vector Training. It's MUCH shorter! 😉) A little learning up front helps protect the equipment and keeps it available for everyone.

Even better, no paid subscription or shared cloud storage is required. Each staff member can create and use their own login, so you won't need to wait for Karen to access an account, upload a design, or get you started.

✅ Complete the quick training videos
✅ Use your own login
✅ Create and save your own projects
✅ Come to the STEM Center and start exploring!

Have an idea? Come learn something new and see what you can create! 🛠️✨

Email: dickelmank@wwcsd.net

In District Website: https://sites.google.com/wwcsd.net/stem-center/home

Website: https://www.wwcsd.net/schools/educational-programs/stem-center/
Location: 36105 Marquette Street, Westland, MI, USA
Phone: 734-419-2447