Past Meetings

Do you aspire to be a leader in STEM education at the classroom, school, district, state, or even national level? If so, plan to attend the 2016 Fall NCSLA meeting to be held on October 19th in Greensboro, NC from 1 pm to 8 pm in Guilford Ballroom B. The theme of the meeting will be “Leading Education in Engineering and Science” and will feature a program to ignite your imagination and creativity as a STEM education leader.

From learning about research to effectively incubate STEM programs, to an engaging and interactive whole audience, hands-on experience with STEM, to rapid action small group presentations and a poster session, the afternoon program will be filled with ideas that you may use to build capacity for STEM leadership at any level. Then relax and network with your colleagues during the evening reception and dinner, highlighted by the presentation of the Herman and Emma Gatling Award for Outstanding Science Education Leadership in North Carolina. 

The afternoon keynote speaker is Dr. Britt Magneson, from Invent Now, Inc. She will share research about the role of innovation and creativity in engineering design and engage the audience in hands-on activities for engineering design. A reception and dinner with speaker Jose Garcia of Greene County Schools follow the afternoon sessions.

Photos

Featured Speakers at the Fall 2016 Membership Meeting

Dr. Britt Magneson

Britt Magneson has spent most of her professional career in public education.   She began her career as a classroom teacher and ended her career in public education as an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.  Her current position as the Vice President for Urban and Strategic Sales for the National Inventors Hall of Fame  allows her the privilege of working with districts across the country in the extended learning arena.   Her particular interest and passion is providing opportunities for all students to experience high quality programming focused on creativity and innovative practices. 

Alaina Rutledge

Alaina Rutledge has developed educational programs for the National Inventors Hall of Fame for over 10 years. She applies her international research in constructivist classrooms (Reggio Emilia) and background in developmental psychology to the cutting edge Camp Invention and Invention Project programs. She leads the design, implementation and research process for innovation-based K-12 curriculum, and presents STEM-based pedagogy and instructional methods to educators nationally. She has written books, designed toys and created museum exhibits. Most recently, she’s engaged in national research projects coupling attitudes in science and growth in creativity in effort to understand the long-term impact of invention education. Prior to this appointment, she worked with the University of Michigan, where she designed internship coursework, mentored teachers as a component for their professional certification requirements, and managed the pedagogical methods of the university’s early childhood classrooms. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She believes that if you give children the tools they need to think, explore and dream, they will create solutions to all of the world’s challenges.