04-03-2025
Iowa STEM teachers and programs honored at State Capitol
DES MOINES, Iowa – Governor Kim Reynolds honored STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) programs from across the state at the Capitol on Monday.
Among the honorees were six educators, who were given STEM Teacher of the Year awards.
The recipients are:
Alex Spooner, 8th grade math teacher and STEM Director at Okoboji Middle School
Tara Gray, agriculture science teacher at Marshalltown High School
Dan Kuchera, science teacher at Clarksville High School
Dustan Kern, STEM teacher at Lewis Central Middle School
Maddie Kampf, science teacher at Irving Elementary
Chuck Tonelli, science teacher and STEAM Academy Coordinator at Metro Alternative High School
Before the awards ceremony, the Capitol rotunda was packed with students from across the state, eager to talk about STEM and what it means for their futures.
'For me STEM is a place where I am able to be myself and be able to connect to other people and help me find the person that I want to be in the future,' said Sam May, junior at Metro High School. Sam added, 'I'm going to be an engineer and maybe a foreman, hopefully in construction and also hopefully start my own robotics team.'Quinlan Akin, a senior at Metro High School, said 'I would like to be a software programmer, so that is my plans for the future. Eventually go to college, get a degree in software programing and become a software programmer.'
Eight STEM BEST programs and 10 STEM Scale-Up programs were on display throughout the event.
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