Month: August 2019

2019-20 Elementary STEM Club Application Process is OPEN!!

OSU Extension, Pickaway County and Teays Valley School District have teamed up to plan and implement the district’s third annual after-school elementary-wide STEM Club. We will meet approximately 2 times per month in each of the four elementary buildings from 3:30-5:00 pm. Participants will be limited to 30 students per building. Acceptance in the after-school program will be an application based lottery. There will be a $ 25 fee for the year with financial hardship waivers available. The fee can be cash or check (written out to OSU Extension, Pickaway County) and turned in at the first STEM Club meeting or mailed to OSU Extension, Pickaway County, P.O. Box 9, Circleville, OH 43113. Save STEM Club blog, u.osu.edu/tvstemclub/, regular updates will be posted to website; such as, club meeting highlights, STEM challenges, and open access to the STEM Club calendar for your student’s STEM Club meetings. The goal of the program is to promote student interest and engagement in STEM in each of the elementaries. This program is considered an extension of the school day. Participants will be engaged in hands-on STEM activities and learn about careers in STEM.

Students who may enjoy STEM club are those who enjoy being challenged and who are interested in:

  • the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)
  • the process of learning, asking questions and problem solving
  • helping people and making a difference in the world

If your child is interested in participating in the lottery visit the STEM Club Blog site for information and complete the online application. Applications must be submitted online by the end of the school day, Friday, August 23rd. NO LATE APPLICATIONS BECAUSE IT IS A LOTTERY! (STEM Club Meeting dates are subject to change. In the event of school cancellation, STEM club will be canceled and not rescheduled.)

CONTACT INFO:

Judy Walley, TV High School Chemistry Teacher & STEM Club Educator, jwalley@tvsd.us
Meghan Thoreau, CD & STEM Extension Educator, thoreau.1@osu.edu

Recap: 2019 National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP)

The Importance of Millennials in the Workplace, presentation cover slide

Presentation cover slide, The Importance of Millennials in the Workplace

This past June Meghan Thoreau presented a scholarly presentation on, The Importance of Millennials in the Workplace, at the 2019 National Association of Community Development Professionals in Asheville, NC. The 30-minute presentation, go.osu.edu/millennials, highlighted:

  1. The changing conditions in the workplace and the workforce induced by emerging technologies, like automation and AI, which are expected to further disrupt ‘the nature work’ and entry-level workers.
  2. General values and career priorities of Millennials. What Millennials want, value, expect from employers, bring to the workplace, how they can improve the workplace, and how to attract Millennials.
  3. Considers possible Extension Generational Program Development ideas, tools, and strategies to engage business and industry that are interested in reevaluating traditional approaches to: employee acquisition, job assignment, employee development, and influencing over organizational culture to support the current and future workforce, in addition to, reevaluating the hiring process and targeted skill sets.
  4. Be proactive of Generation Z, ages 7-24, starting to enter the workforce.

Meghan is very willing to present on this topic and related topics to the local community and business leaders to foster a collaborative discussion on next-steps or programming feedback to considering new approaches and strategies to our youth workforce development programming. Contact Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Education, Thoreau.1@osu.edu.

Brooke Beam (Cross-Program Award - Individual); Meghan Thoreau (Educational Technology Award - Individual); Becky Nesbitt (Distinguished Career Award)

Photo source: https://comdev.osu.edu/news/

She and her fellow OSUE colleagues were also National NACDEP Award Recipients. Becky Nesbitt (Distinguished Career Award); Brooke Beam (Cross Program Award – Using Virtual Reality in Educational Programming), and Meghan Thoreau (Educational Technology Award – Scholastic High School Drone Racing League Program); and Amanda Osborne (Educational Materials Award – Produce Perks Toolkit for Farmers Markets). These individuals were also North Central Regional  NACDEP winners.

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A worthy read, Generation Z enters the workforce: generational and technological challenges in entry-level jobs, by Carolyn O’Boyle, Josefin Atack, and Kelly Monahan. Asks the hard questions, With Generation Z entering the workforce and the nature of entry-level jobs changing, how can organizations redesign these jobs in a way that can both attract and engage Gen Z and ensure that these jobs continue to generate a pipeline of future talent?