Smith College and Springfield Technical Community College have developed Through My Window, a free engineering curriculum for Grades 4-8 that integrates STEM and literacy via three flexible components:

• Young adult STEM mystery novel, Talk to Me
• Interactive online learning adventures about engineering topics
• Teachers’ curriculum guide

Applications are being accepted from schools and other programs, both formal and informal, to implement this curriculum in the spring, summer or fall of 2017.  Applicants selected through this process will receive a $500 stipend and free educator support, including free customized lesson plans and professional development.  Application is quick and easy at goo.gl/forms/LcFmambLBHpk8Lmi2. For more information, email Outreach Coordinator Isabel Huff at ishuff@stcc.edu.  She has told NewtonSTEM that Through the Window would love to work with schools or programs in the Newton area.

MassBay Community College in Wellesley offers one-semester certificates in central processing technologies, emergency medical technician, phlebotomy, cyber security analyst and certified nursing assistant.  It offers two-semester certificates in practical nursing, advanced manufacturing, computer-aided design, web design, technology support, cyber security, automotive technology, medical coding, surgical technology, paramedicine, business information technology, and high tech sales.

K2 Enrichment Program has moved its STEM programs for ages 5-10 to a new location, at 307 Watertown Street in Nonantum.  K2 Enrichment offers after-school and weekend programs of about 7 weeks each, in addition to summer programs, school-vacation workshops, and birthday-party events. Free trial classes are available. For more information, call 617-916-0433 or email kristine@k2enrichment.com.

So many parents and students are looking for opportunities to learn about programming and introductory computer science, and the Girls Who Code clubs at the Newton Free Library fill up quickly.  BostonTechMom has stepped forward with step-by-step instructions to alleviate the shortage:  How to Start a Girls Who Code Club.

For a second year, the NHL, NHL Players’ Association, and Boston Bruins are sponsoring an online STEM program, Future Goals, free for Massachusetts schools.  It’s recommended for Grades 4-7 and consists of 12 online modules of 15-20 minutes each.  See the demo video and curriculum guide (PDF).  Teachers, students, administrators, coaches, and community members are invited to fill out the contact form on the Future Goals site.

Khan Academy and Pixar Studios have teamed up to create Pixar in a Box, a series of free online tutorials that demonstrate how STEM and the arts are used in film animation. Each tutorial focuses on the use of a concept learned in school and starts with a design-challenge lesson (for Grades 5+), followed by several different grade-appropriate lessons focused on particular math concepts.  Topics include:  Effects, Patterns (randomness), Rigging (controls), Animation (curves), Environmental Modeling (parabolic arcs), Character Modeling (weighted averages), Crowds (combinatorics), Sets & Staging (geometric transformations), and Rendering (algebra).

The Massachusetts Audubon Society invites both formal and informal educators to apply to join the Land Science Educator Network LSEN and gain free access to Land Science, its online simulation of an urban planning firm during the coming school year.  This “virtual internship” is suitable for middle- and high-school students, either in the classroom, in after-school clubs, or in other organizations.  Over the course of 8 to 12 hours, students play the role of interns at a virtual urban planning firm and take on real-world STEM problems in land science that have no clear-cut, optimal solutions.  Teachers overseeing these projects can share resources online via LSEN.  For more information, contact Jen Klein, Mass Audubon LSEN Project Manager, at jklein@massaudubon.org.