June 26 – 30, 2023 (Week #1), July 10 – 14, 2023 (Week #2), July 17 – 21, 2022 (Week #3)

Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

The Science House in the College of Sciences and the STEM Education Department in the College of Education are excited to offer this new professional development opportunity to high school science teachers in western North Carolina. Supporting the Implementation of Modeling Instruction in Rural Schools (SIMIRS) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) project (Project Number 2101590). This program focuses on Modeling Instruction in High School Biology and High School Chemistry while producing new educational research in the area of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK).

July 21, 2023

Central Crops Research Station, Clayton, NC

This one-day workshop will provide teachers with visits and interactions in the Central Crops Research Station fields with faculty and graduate students involved with research on different varieties of corn, soybeans, and sweet potatoes. The morning will be filled with discussions, site visits, and activities exploring the research happening at the Central Crops Station. The afternoon will be spent in the classroom doing hands-on activities related to the research and can be implemented in your classroom. 

Whenever You Want to Host

Your School

Hosting a Family STEM Challenge event provides a unique opportunity for schools to build and enhance relationships with family members and to engage and inspire young people to explore STEM in a fun way.

July 24-28, 2023

Thomas Hall, NC State University's Central Campus, Raleigh, NC

This five-day-long workshop is for current high school biology teachers or pre-service science education majors (juniors or seniors) who plan to teach high school biology. This professional development opportunity will provide hands-on training in basic recombinant DNA technology and synthetic biology.