Come join us at the 6^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo. It is the event where early childhood and lower elementary teachers need to be. It is a unique event where you will find a great deal of focused ideas on how to engage, nurture, and teach what our little ones are already so curious about. Science, technology, engineering, and math is all around our students and they have a natural love for figuring out how things work and why. The STEM Forum is a wonderful opportunity for educators in the early years to find resources that will help build your knowledge on integrating STEM into your lessons as well as give you some great fun ideas you can take immediately back to the classroom and use the next day. 

As early childhood and lower elementary teachers we tend to focus on making sure our students are first learning and practicing their foundational skills like, the alphabet, numbers, reading, and writing and perhaps forget the importance of STEM to our students’ futures. We need to teach them how to be those innovative thinkers, problem solvers, and creators of the future and it all starts with us! With a strong understanding of STEM and how to go about presenting it to young learners that is exactly what you as a teacher can do for your students. Attending the conference will give you many opportunities to find ideas that you can use in planning your literacy blocks, but also effectively integrating science or engineering into some of those already great lessons. There are so many books that lend themselves to science and engineering. Some of the sessions at this year’s STEM Forum will focus on how to use science and engineering with literature as well as give you some activities to try with your own students.  Presenters are educators, like myself, that have come to share what has effectively worked for them. They bring along great resources and knowledge that they have used or found helpful in developing their lessons that they are more than happy to share with other educators.

Our young students deserve to explore and allow their natural curiosity to guide their learning. As early childhood and lower elementary teachers our job is to focus that natural curiosity and assist them in making important connections about the world and their place in it. So please, come and join us at the 6^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo. You will not believe how many excellent and focused sessions for young learners you will find that will assist you in becoming a well-rounded STEM educator. We hope to see you there! 

Adriana Guerra began her teaching career at E.P. Foster STEM Academy 12 years ago.  She was a presenter at the 5^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo in Denver, CO and is currently on the steering committee as the early childhood/lower elementary strand leader for the 6^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo.  She received my bachelor’s degree from University of Southern California, her Master’s degree from Bradley University and her teaching credentials from California Lutheran University.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

2017 STEM Forum & Expo
Kissimmee/Orlando, July 12–14

2017 Area Conferences

Baltimore, October 5–7
Milwaukee, November 9–11
New Orleans, Nov. 30–Dec. 2