MindStretched is a professional blog that was started to record practical contact with STEM experiences. The posts are observation of facts or events through professional and personal exposures of being an Extension educator and a mother that’s trying to set apart the critical 21st-century skills and careers of the now and beyond.
Meghan Thoreau is an OSU Extension Educator in Community Development with a focus on preparing Pickaway County youth for STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.) Meghan works collaboratively with a team of Extension professionals, volunteers, campus collaborators, and community partners to provide leadership for the development, production, and evaluation of educational programs and applied research to foster STEM educational opportunities that increase career attainment in STEM fields.
More specifically she provides leadership and programming to meet current and future needs related to STEM education with Pickaway County schools. She works in conjunction with the Pickaway County Educational Service Center, Pickaway WORKS, school district curriculum directors, teachers, economic development organizations, local businesses, and OSU collaborators.
She grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is an avid traveler and has lived in a number of places, including Western Wyoming, Upstate New York, and Eastern South Dakota, before moving with her family to Central Ohio. She’s worked with communities both at the municipal and grassroots levels and has always strived to strengthen communities and increase the quality of life for residents.
She strongly believes in Extension and the purpose of linking current knowledge and research into our daily lives and works to solve today’s educational challenges and secure a vibrant future for our communities and residents.
Meghan received a B.S. in Construction Management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and a M.R.P. Master of City and Regional Planning from Cornell University.
Click to view her, Curriculum Vitae.
Additionally, ‘click here’ and learn more about the STEM Pathways Signature Program Initiative and visit go.osu.edu/PickSTEM Community Development & STEM Events and News in Pickaway County, OH. Learn more about STEM Club Programming, e.g., u.osu.edu/tvstemclub/. Contact her directly, at 740.474.7534, thoreau.1@osu.edu.
Land Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge the land that The Ohio State University occupies is the ancestral and contemporary territory of the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Delaware, Miami, Peoria, Seneca, Wyandotte, Ojibwe, and Cherokee peoples. Specifically, the university resides on land ceded in the 1795 Treaty of Greeneville and the forced removal of tribes through the Indian Removal Act of 1830. I want to honor the resiliency of these tribal nations and recognize the historical contexts that have and continue to affect the Indigenous peoples of this land. More information on OSU’s land acknowledgment can be found here: https://mcc.osu.edu/about-us/land-acknowledgement.
Awards & Recognition
2022 National NACDEP Educational Technology Runner-up Award: Team, Kürzi, An Interactive Media Device and Curriculum Encouraging Healthy Decision Making in Youth. (Team members: Meghan Thoreau, Kenneth Burns.)
2022 Regional NACDEP Educational Technology Runner-up Award: Team, Kürzi, An Interactive Media Device and Curriculum Encouraging Healthy Decision Making in Youth. (Team members: Meghan Thoreau, Kenneth Burns.)
2022 Ohio NACDEP Educational Technology Award: Team, Kürzi, An Interactive Media Device and Curriculum Encouraging Healthy Decision Making in Youth. (Team members: Meghan Thoreau, Kenneth Burns, Benjamin Rose, Laveréna Wienclaw, Tiana Lui, Robert Horton, Jennifer Driesbach, Jane Hunt, Jeanne Gogolski, Deborah Wasserman, Justin Meyer, Garg Timko, and the 6th-8th Grade Akron Teachers.)
2021 OSU Extension Creative Works Award, Curriculum Package: 3rd Place, Team. (Team members: Christy Millhouse, Travis West, Tracy Winters, Jessica George, Meghan Thoreau, Demetria Woods, and Kelly Royalty.)
2020 Ohio NACDEP Cross-Program Awards: Individual, Elementary STEM Club and Career Exploration Program
2020 Ohio NACDEP Excellence in Community Development Work Awards: Individual, Career Exploration Student Tours Program
2020 Innovation and Creativity Awards: Team, Germinate International Film Fest. (Team members: Brooke Beam, Godwin Apaliyah, Dave Apsley, Tom Blaine, Jess Bowen, Ben Brown, Chris Bruynis, Kathy Bruynis, Cheryl Buck, Danielle Combs, Gregory Davis, David Dugan, Kenneth Ford, Teresa Funk, Lyda Garcia, Christine Gelley, Will Hamman, Kenzie Johnston, Tammy Jones, Ashley Kulhanek, Gary Kuhn, Rob Leeds, Rachel Leggett, Andrew Londo, James Morris, Jared Morrison, Tammy Newsome, Sandy Odrumpsky, Brian Raison, Duane Rigsby, Kelly Royalty, ShaLise Simmons, Clinton Smith, Jacci Smith, Julie Strawser, Meghan Thoreau, Brandy, Uhlenbrock Christie Welch, Hallie Williams, Danae Wolfe, Tom Worley.)
2019 Civil Air Patrol, Great Lakes Region Aerospace Education Member School, Certificate, Successful Completion of 24 contact hours, Civil Air Patrol, Great Lakes Region
2019 JCEP/ESP Creative Works Award: 2nd Place, Follow-up News Story/Press Release, JCEP/ESP (Meghan Thoreau and community partner Judy Walley)
2019 JCEP/ESP Creative Works: 3rd Place Blogs, JCEP/ESP (Meghan Thoreau and community partners, Judy Walley, Allison Cheek, and Emma Rico)
2019 NACDEP National Award, Education Technology Award: Individual, Scholastic Drone Racing Program, National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals
2019 North Central Regional First Place Award, Educational Technology Award: Individual, North Central Region
2019 Ohio NACDEP First Place Award, Education Technology Award: Individual, Ohio National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals
2019 Ohio NACDEP Educational Technology Award: Individual, Scholastic Drone Racing Program, Ohio National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals
2018 Civil Air Patrol United State Air Force Auxiliary, Certificate, Supporting Aerospace & STEM Education in America’s Schools, 1-week training. Civil Air Patrol, United States Air Force Auxiliary
2018 The University Institute for Teaching and Learning (UITL), Digital Flagship Educator Teaching Endorsement Certificate
2018 North Central Region First Place Award, NACDEP Creativity and Innovation Award: Team, National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, NACDEP. (Team members: Godwin Apaliyah, Jill Bartolotta, Brooke Beam, Tom Blaine, Cindy Bond, Nancy Bowen-Ellzey, David Civittolo, Susan Colbert, Trevor Corboy, Tory Gabriel, Carol Hamilton, Scott Hardy, Joe Lucente, Darlene Lukshin, Myra Moss, Becky Nesbitt, Sandy Odrumsky, Sarah Orlando, Amanda Osborne, Brian Raison, Eric Romich, Mariah Stollar, Meghan Thoreau, Lauren Vargo, Kyle White, and Myra Wilson – Ohio State University Extension)
2018 Runner-up National Award, NACDEP Creativity and Innovation Awards: Team, National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, NACDEP. (Team members: Godwin Apaliyah, Jill Bartolotta, Brooke Beam, Tom Blaine, Cindy Bond, Nancy Bowen-Ellzey, David Civittolo, Susan Colbert, Trevor Corboy, Tory Gabriel, Carol Hamilton, Scott Hardy, Joe Lucente, Darlene Lukshin, Myra Moss, Becky Nesbitt, Sandy Odrumsky, Sarah Orlando, Amanda Osborne, Brian Raison, Eric Romich, Mariah Stollar, Meghan Thoreau, Lauren Vargo, Kyle White, and Myra Wilson – Ohio State University Extension)
2017 JCEP First-timers Scholarship, The Joint Council of Extension Professionals/Epsilon Sigma Phi, JCEP/ESP
2017 Epsilon Sigma Phi, ESP, The Extension Professionals’ Organization, Alpha Eta Chapter