The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) recognizes high-school and college students, as well as educators, with annual awards. Applications are open now until October 20 for the Aspirations in Computing (AiC) awards for young women, genderqueer, or non-binary students in Grades 9-12 to recognize their computing-related achievements, interests, and aspirations. Applications for Aspirations in Computing Educator awards are open until December 1.
Category Archives: Opportunities
The Boston/Cambridge Innovation Trail — Walking Tours Sept. 22, Oct. 8, and When You Wish
You’ve walked Boston’s Freedom Trail, and now you can walk The Innovation Trail between Boston and Cambridge. The Innovation Trail currently features 21 stops between Government Center and Central Square, highlighting world-changing ideas that have come from our community since the American Revolution. A work in progress — historian Bob Krim has cataloged 400+ innovations from the area — The Innovation Trail already covers anesthesia, vaccines, color movies, the telephone, cameras, email, radar, guidance chips, rubber firehose, the Human Genome Project, and more. There are several opportunities for tours:
- Private guided tours are available via Cambridge Historical Tours.
- The Venture Café in Cambridge will host a free, “sneak peek” mini-tour of the Cambridge portion of The Innovation Trail on September 22, 4PM-5:30PM, in conjunction with Startup Boston Week. It will be led by Scott Kirsner, who wrote about the Innovation Trail in the Boston Globe in July. Pre-register here.
- You can sign up here for a 90-minute public tour on October 8, 10:30AM-12PM ($15), scheduled to align with the Cambridge Science Festival and starting at Toscanini’s Ice Cream (899 Main Street, Cambridge).
- Take your own self-guided tour of the trail, starting from either Boston or Cambridge, with maps and information on The Innovation Trail website.
Discovery Museum — Science & Engineering Communication Fellows, Apply by Oct. 3
The Discovery Museum (177 Main Street, Acton) seeks Science & Engineering Communication Fellows. Apply by October 3. For further information, email Liz Leahey, Director of STEAM Education. Accepted Fellows will attend professional-development workshops 10AM-3PM on October 22 and November 5, then until early December, consult with education professionals to develop a hands-on activity, and test their hands-on prototypes with Discovery Museum educators. Finally, on December 2, 5PM-8PM, Fellows will meet with the public and share their research and hands-on activities at the Museum;s Meet the Scientists & Engineers event, held during December’s Free Friday Night.
TYE Entrepreneurship Academy for 2022-23, Grades 9-12, Apply by Sept. 30
The TYE Entrepreneurship Academy is a rigorous, school-year extracurricular program for Boston-area students in Grades 9-12 interested in STEM, business, and social innovation. It meets biweekly on Saturdays at the Cambridge Innovation Center, September-May. It uses a proven curriculum in entrepreneurship and business acceleration, taught by experts in the field, to help students tackle real-world problems. Along the way, it helps students identify and develop pathways to reach personal and professional goals. In teams, students build products, apps or service-based businesses using design thinking, customer feedback, iteration, and lightweight business models. Financial aid may be available. Applications are due September 30. Register to attend an informational webinar (5PM-6PM) on September 6 or September 13 or September 20.
EiE Offers Seeks Pilot Sites for Family Engineering Activity for STEM Nights
The Museum of Science’s EiE Families curriculum development team seeks pilot sites for its new family engineering resources. If you are hosting a STEM night for ages 4-11 between October 15 and December 16, you may apply to run an EiE activity during your event. Apply by September 15. Sites that are selected will be notified by September 22 and will receive a free materials kit, an activity guide, visual resources, and a $200 stipend for your time in running the activity and providing online feedback.
Science Club For Girls: Recruiting Volunteer Mentors for Fall Semester
Science Club for Girls seeks women and gender-expansive individuals who are working or studying in STEM fields in the Greater Boston area to be volunteer mentors teaching hands-on STEM explorations for SCFG youth in Grades K-8, alongside high school Junior Mentors. Volunteers commit to two hours a week for eight weeks, either after school or on Saturdays. Curriculum and materials are provided. In-person and online mentoring opportunities are available. Apply here.
MAST Awards: Nominate a Science Teacher by Oct. 15
Nominations are open until October 15 for several awards for science teachers from the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers (MAST):
- 14 county-level science educator awards
- 1 award for an exemplary new teacher
- 1 award for a distinguished “friend of science” working with educators
- 1 award for a K-8 teacher who is inspirational in environmental education
- MAST State Educator of the Year
Anyone may submit a nomination by completing this online form. All nominees will be notified of their nominations, and awards will be presented at the MAST Annual Conference. For more information, contact Laura Carlin at awards@massscienceteach.org.
Highland Street Foundation’s August Adventures: Something Free Each Day
The Highland Street Foundation is once again hosting August Adventures, its community program partnering with Massachusetts cultural institutions to provide the general public with a free activity each day for every day in August. Among all 31 institutions participating in August Adventures by offering free admission on one day in August are these STEM-related institutions:
- August 6: Maritime Gloucester
- August 8: New Bedford Whaling Museum
- August 9: Stone Zoo
- August 10: The Gardens at Elm Bank
- August 11: Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum
- August 13: World Ocean School
- August 16: Harvard Museums of Science and Culture
- August 23: Mass Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
- August 29: Children’s Museum Easton
- August 30: Clark Institute
- August 31: Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Applications are Open for Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Grants
The Lemelson-MIT Program within MIT’s School of Engineering administers the InvenTeams program, in which teams of high-school students, educators, and mentors receive grants of up to $7500 to invent working technological solutions to real-world problems. Each InvenTeam chooses its own problem to solve. Up to eight schools will be awarded grants. Newton has a successful history with InvenTeams. The application process occurs in two stages. Educators and their teams should apply now for the 2022-23 school year, and final applications will be due September 6. For more information, email inventeams@mit.edu. Potential applicants should attend an Information Webinar on July 26 at 7PM.
N. E. Sci-Tech to Host Students’ Conversations with ISS Astronauts
The New England Sci-Tech (NEST) STEM education center is working with ARISS and NASA to provide students across New England with opportunities to talk to astronauts aboard the International Space Station. NEST will provide select space science and amateur radio classes for free to eligible children entering Grades 4-12 and will host the astronaut contact at the BIG E state fair in West Springfield, MA in the last week of September. Learn more about NEST’s Space Science Club.