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It is imperative that we get into the schools become friends with the schools and involve the parents and we have got to do it at the grassroots level. We have got to get into the space where kids live and study and play. Weve got to teach these kids that these video games and puzzles really are mathematical and science based. I am a living example of that. Students need access to professionals to really understand what the field involves. Often our teachers dont even know what these STEM careers look like. So it is imperative that our stem professionals get involved with schools. STEM professionals tell me that they do not know how to permeate the school environment. So you have to teach them how to get into a school. My suggestion would be to get in touch with a principal and get them to understand that the knowledge of STEM in any area really impacts and changes students lives. We need to insist that science be taught early at the pre-K level and on. I have not yet met a STEM professional who came out of a school who was not excited when they left. It only takes one encounter with a STEM professional for a student to decide his or her lifes course. In Neil de Grasse Tysons speeches he often recounts his story about his first visit to a planetarium during which he determined this would be his career. I insist that when someone comes to the school that they let me see what they want to do and we rearrange it so that it is interesting. We forget that kids like to move around and there are so many ways to engage kids in an active way. Bring me something thats interesting and show kids how it is related to the mathematics and the science they are learning. I am thinking of a guy who does MatheMagic. He did it at my school with 300 kids. The kids got so excited. Volunteer but not for the moment rather for the long haul. I had a volunteer with MATHCOUNTS who was a retired statistician from the Labor Department. He stayed with me as long as I was there. The greatest thing in the world is to be able to influence someone elses life with what you do. What To Do What NOT To Do Sue White Game Up One of the things we have got to remember Dont come in with a lecture but come in with good hands-on ideas that stimulate. The students are fascinated when you take a game and show them the mathematics in it. on MATHCOUNTS As a mathematics educator I took an active role in engaging students in STEM activities. One such example was forming a MATHCOUNTS team each year in the junior high where I taught. Each year I served as coach the teams managed to reach the citywide competition and some teams went on to compete at the national competition. I encouraged the principal to have school-wide MATHCOUNTS pep rallies prior to the teams competition which made the team members proud to be mathletes and not embarrassed to be nerds. I sought to motivate as many students as possible at the onset of the year by inviting all students interested in mathematics to participate in the MATHCOUNTS test for team selection. Each year at least 100 students would participate. I also engaged STEM professionals in the community to be mentors to the team which gave the students access to STEM practitioners. The huge known outcomes from this effort as I am still in touch with most of them was that all of my former MATHCOUNTS students have entered STEM careers and many of them have received their doctorates or the equivalent in mathematics science and medicine. Some became accountants and some are entrepreneurs in the varying fields of technology. Sue White TipsExcellent Teachersfrom Image courtesy Sean Solomon what to do AND not to do FOR VIDEO GO TO www.carnegiescience.Edu