Important Dates for Students
June 6 – June 15: In class academic presentations
Thursday June 16: End of year symposium 9 am – 12 pm @ T.C. Williams HS. Tentative schedule below:
Each group will present for 15 minutes plus 10 minutes of Q&A. They will also peer review four additional presentations and meet with their mentor for 30 minutes in our hospitality room. We hope each of our mentors are able to join us in celebrating our students’ successes!
Meeting Logistics
Student groups, mentors, and teacher advisors will coordinate meeting times and locations. Students meet daily with their capstone group from 9:20-9:52 and is an ideal meeting time with mentors, however, we understand this time may not work for all volunteers. Most meetings take place at TC Williams HS (3330 King St. Alexandria, VA). Volunteers will park in the garage, enter through door #1, and check in at the desk.
Students are expected to maintain contact with their mentors via email as well. All contact will be documented by students on a mentor contact log shown below.
Capstone Groups
STEM 10 Capstone Project
The centerpiece of the STEM 10 program is a year-long capstone project which requires students to identify and address a local problem with global implications. Through application of the design cycle and supported by community-based mentors from applicable professional fields, students will collaborate on projects that require application of knowledge and techniques from all STEM subjects.
Students will complete a practicum working closely with mentors receiving content knowledge, professional advice, and guidance. During their practicum, groups of 2-3 students will be required to meet with their mentors (either in person or virtually) for a total of fifteen hours over the course of the 2015-2016 school year.
How will teams assess and document their progress?
Teams will have the opportunity to informally check their progress with both their community mentor and teacher-advisor. Additionally, teams will need to meet certain criteria at scheduled checkpoints throughout the school year. As part of these checkpoints, teams may be asked to submit written progress reports, and/or present and discuss their work with their teacher-advisors.
How will teams present their work?
Throughout the year, teams will submit deliverables into a virtual portfolio on a shared Google drive. All team members will have access to the documents as well as the STEM 10 teachers. At the completion of the project, all teams will have produced a virtual portfolio containing the following Capstone deliverables.
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Proposal
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Research presentation including annotated bibliography
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Mentor memo
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Procedural plan
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Infographic
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Symposium Multimedia presentation (eg powerpoint, video)