What is The Pioneer Valley STEM Network?
The Pioneer Valley Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network (PVSTEM NET) is based in the Pioneer Valley, which includes the three Western Massachusetts counties along the Connecticut River and I-91. Regional networks were established in 2004 by the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council to enable area businesses, institutions of higher education, local school districts, regional workforce development professionals, community based organizations and various municipal or civic leaders to increase the number of area students who participate in career-related programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), while also increasing the number of qualified STEM teachers and improving educational offerings in area schools. The Network is funded through the Department of Higher Education Pipeline Fund. There are nine regional networks spanning the state, including PVSTEM NET.
RSN Statement on Racial Equity, Justice, and Antiracist Action
Massachusetts Regional STEM Networks Commitment to Racial Equity and Statement of Solidarity
The Massachusetts Regional STEM Network Managers stand in solidarity with Black communities. We support Black Lives Matter. We are outraged about the murders of more Black persons by police officers across the country and the use of violence and force by police against protestors. We have long known that structural racism exists in the USA. What we are witnessing now are the predictable consequences of a system built on that structure. We have done far too little to combat it.
Institutional racism is present in the education system as well. As STEM representatives, we have promoted “See Yourself in STEM” acknowledging that there are pervasive equity gaps at every level of our education system; gaps that are particularly wide in STEM. We acknowledge that STEM is not accessible to all and that there are many systemic barriers. We commit to naming the systemic racism that exists in STEM, exploring our role as allies in the current system, and engaging our networks to transform STEM education into a more inclusive, anti-racist, and asset-based community. We work in a system where our Black students can often name more Black people murdered by police: Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd (to name a few), than they can name teachers and staff that look like them in their schools. We have a lot of work to do to remove systemic barriers and achieve better educational outcomes for our Black students. We commit to listening to our Black communities, educators, and partners and to making long overdue changes towards more just and equitable outcomes.
“In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist,
we must be anti-racist .” - Angela Y. Davis
We all have a responsibility to advocate for a just society. We believe in community and how inaction passively upholds a system of oppression. We must rethink our role as STEM Network leaders and join together for collective impact to dismantle institutional racism across the Commonwealth. We commit to reaching out to listen and learn from our communities about the ways we can make this change happen.
In Solidarity,
The Massachusetts Regional STEM Networks
The Pioneer Valley STEM Network Includes the Following Towns & Cities:
- Agawam
- Amherst
- Ashfield
- Athol
- Belchertown
- Bernardston
- Blanford
- Brimfield
- Buckland
- Charlemont
- Chester
- Chesterfield
- Chicopee
- Colrain
- Conway
- Cummington
- Deerfield
- East Hampton
- East Longmeadow
- Erving
- Gill
- Goshen
- Granby
- Granville
- Greenfield
- Hadley
- Hampden
- Hawley
- Health
- Holland
- Holyoke
- Huntington
- Leverett
- Leyden
- Longmeadow
- Ludlow
- Middlesfield
- Monroe
- Monson
- Montague
- Montgomery
- New Salem
- Northampton
- Northfield
- Orange
- Palmer
- Pelham
- Petersham
- Phillipston
- Plainfield
- Rowe
- Royalston
- Russell
- Shelburne
- Shutesbury
- South Hadley
- Southampton
- Southwick
- Springfield
- Sunderland
- Tolland
- Wales
- Ware
- Warwick
- Wendell
- West Springfield
- Westfield
- Westhampton
- Whately
- Wilbraham
- Williamsburg
- Worthington
The following organizations received grants to develop STEM design challenges for students:
BioBuilder Edicational Foundation, Newton: BioBuilder invites students across the Commonwealth to engage with its Idea Accelerator, a digital offering that allows students to learn the foundations of biodesign and challenges them to develop a biotechnology that solves any challenge they want to address. The world’s health crisis has focused everyone’s attention on biology and life science. A design challenge related to bioengineering is not only timely but is also a way to focus student’s ideas on solving society’s needs, allowing students to both see themselves in STEM and see STEM in the world.
CoderZ by Intelitek, Inc: CoderZ invites students and educators to explore CSTEM, the fusion of computer science and STEM, through their award-winning platform during Massachusetts STEM Week 2021. Owned by Intelitek, Inc., CoderZ's gamified online platform is as easy to use as it is powerful. Students learn core STEM, coding, and robotics skills, while supporting 21st Century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration.
FIRST Robotics WPI, Worcester: New England FIRST invites students and educators across the Commonwealth to engage with robotics teams during MA STEM week and learn more about how to get hands-on with robotics. FIRST programs enable students from kindergarten through high school to understand the basics of STEM and apply their skills in an exciting challenge while building habits of learning, confidence, and teamwork skills along the way.
Gale Force Education: Gale Force Education brings the excitement of power engineering to high school students through Engineering for Resilience (EfR), which focuses on the design and operation of New England’s power grid. In a series of challenges aligned to MA STEM standards, students will design, test, and improve power grid system components and a model power grid system.
Kids in Tech, Inc., Lowell: Kids in Tech’s STEM Challenge will help students in the Commonwealth visualize the concepts of AI, understand how these systems affect the world, and appreciate the potential they have to change the future. Students will utilize two online platforms, Machine Learning for Kids and Scratch, through which they will complete engaging activities that allow them to see what is possible with AI concepts and technology. The challenge will culminate in a project in which students will design their own Smart Cities using AI principles and programming language.
Museum of Science, Cambridge: The Museum of Science and EiE®, the Museum’s curricular division, invites educators and students to see themselves in STEM by engaging with the museum’s newest permanent exhibition, Engineering Design Workshop powered by MathWorks, in classrooms throughout the Commonwealth during Mass STEM Week 2021. Engineering Design Workshop enriches hands-on activities through the use of state-of-the-art tools and includes the popular Design Challenges program that invites visitors to design, build, and test their own solutions to fun engineering and computer science challenges. Challenges will engage students live and in-person as they engineer to solve problems related to environmental challenges humans face across the globe, set in the context of urban, coastal, suburban, and rural settings across the Commonwealth.
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, Boston: In partnership with Boston Public Schools, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley’s (UWMB) BoSTEM initiative challenges students and educators across the Commonwealth to explore social justice for civics by using STEM as the lever for change. The impact of social justice issues on youth has been exacerbated by COVID-19 and racial injustices. Through this design challenge, teachers will support their students in local data collection and synthesis to build a social justice message and project around equity in the city for issues like our deteriorating environment, lack of affordable housing, transportation equity and food security.
Wade Institute for Science Education, Quincy: The Wade Institute for Science Education, the Salem Sound Coastwatch, and the Lloyd Center for the Environment have designed “Hurricane Heroes! Storm City, Massachusetts,” a phenomena-based challenge that will allow educators to use grade-level appropriate science and technology concepts that address Massachusetts curriculum standards. This challenge will give students across the Commonwealth the opportunity to learn about storms and their impact and to incorporate engineering concepts with physical and earth science disciplinary core ideas.
STEM Challenge Partners
The following organizations were also announced as STEM Challenge Partners. The organizations have collaborated with the STEM Advisory Council over the last 4 years to provide opportunities for students across the Commonwealth.
i2 Learning: i2 Learning has been proud to partner with the Commonwealth since the inaugural Massachusetts STEM Week in 2018. Building on i2's successful weeklong and monthlong programs in schools and districts around the country, i2 is now partnering with select Massachusetts school districts to pilot i2 Full Year, a complete school year of immersive, interdisciplinary, project-based curriculum.
Mass STEM Hub and Project Lead the Way: As part of Mass STEM Week 2021, Mass STEM Hub, a program of the One8 Foundation, is providing an opportunity for schools to connect directly with industry professionals to help students deepen their learning and link their coursework to real-world careers. With Student Industry Connects for STEM Week 2021, middle and high school students (grades 6-12) are invited to submit Project Lead The Way (PLTW) and OpenSciEd (OSE) projects from Fall 2021 to receive authentic feedback from STEM professionals on their work. Classrooms that submit projects will also have the opportunity to continue the conversation with professionals through follow-up virtual classroom visits.
