2014-2015 Annual Report2.Pub

STEM FORWARD 2014-2015 ANNUAL REPORT

Welcome to our 2014-2015 Annual Report. We invite you to read and share in our achievements from the past year. Thanks to the financial support of our partners and the time and talent of our volunteers, we've had another accomplished year. Without your help we would not be as successful. Thank you for your support!

STEM Forward Mission STEM Professionals Building STEM Professionals STEM Forward Vision Accelerating regional prosperity by:

• Creating STEM awareness in the community

• Engaging students to advance STEM competencies

• Optimizing the effectiveness of STEM programs

• Leading a collaborative approach to STEM talent development

Student Scholarships STEM Forward's Scholarship Fund awarded five students $1,000 scholarships 10th Annual Invita• tional held at Morningstar Golfer’s Club on August 13, 2015. Scholarship funds are raised from this annual outing and the generous support of STEM Forward members and other contributors. Schol• arship selection is based on students’ academic performance and determination in pursuing their STEM educational goals. We would like to thank all those who helped invest in the education of these future STEM leaders: Marquette University--Rayann Jaber Milwaukee Area Technical College--Alvin Jach Milwaukee School of Engineering--Kevin Banks UW-Milwaukee--Erik Orlowski High School Winner, Hamilton High School--Jazmin Vargas Day of Engineering Day of Engineering partners STEM businesses with local elementary schools and high schools for a unique one-day event that brings engineering into the classroom. STEM volunteers visited a school and facilitated STEM activities while providing students with access to STEM role models and career information. This second year program has continue to be immensely successful, serving over 1,800 students. During 2014- 2015 we partnered schools and organizations such as: Vieau Elementary, West Allis Central, Nicolet High School, Garland Elementary, Audubon Middle School, Wauwatosa STEM School, Rockwell Automation, STRATTEC Security Corporation, Signicast, Astraonautics, USS Milwaukee, and Rexnord.

The sySTEMnow Conference Over 250 guests joined us on October 28th for the 11th Annual sySTEMnow Conference at the Italian Conference Center.

Jay Flores kicked off the morning with an inspiring message on how he and others are making STEM education relevant and fun for all students with his keynote speech, "Cereal Doesn't Grown On Trees". He provided great examples on engaging students through STEM analogies like how super heroes have no "powers" without the STEM smarts and gadgets to make them super. STEM can make anyone a superhero and take you where you want to go in life.

Attendees could choose from nine engaging breakout sessions ranging from topics on Supporting Career Pathways in K-12 Education, STEM Wisconsin, Building a K-12 Program of Study for Computing, and a What STEM Employers are Looking For. They also visited the students of Generation STEM who were happy to show off their STEM projects from FIRST Robotics to Future City Competition.

Luncheon Keynote Speaker, Cameron Wilson, COO of Code.org, spoke about how essential Computer Science is to our students' education in an increasingly digital world. Only 1 in 10 K-12 US Schools offer computer science curriculum. Our students need to be creators of technology rather than just consumers. Awarded at this year's Excellence in STEM Awards, (The Stemmys) presented by Time Warner Cable were: • Education--Kenosha School of Technology Enhanced Curriculum • Individual--Ben Senson • Partnership--ASCE Young Members Group and Local STEM Programs.

Future City Competition On Saturday, January 24, 2015, 54 middle school teams from 25 Wisconsin schools participated in the Future City Wisconsin Regional Competition held at MSOE's Kern Center. This competition sponsored by STEM Forward and National Engineers Week introduces middle school students to engineering while they create a city of the Future. Teams created a virtual city using Sim City software and wrote a 1,000 word essay on a specific topic, designing a way to grow enough food to feed your city. They also wrote a 500 word city narrative, built a to-scale model of their city using recycled materials and gave a 5-7 minute presentation to a panel of STEM professionals. Over 150 volunteers donated their time as judges throughout the competition to help select the winner with an additional 25 that acted as mentors for teams. The 2014 winners, Yasai-Shi from Saint Alphonsus Catholic School, received a trip to Washington D.C. on February 14-18, 2015 where they competed against 35 other Regional Winners from across the United States.

FIRST Robotics FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics is an international competition for high school students that combines high tech robotics with the excitement of sports. Teams of 25 students or more build a robot using a kit of parts in six weeks and then participate in regional competitions in a different game challenge each year. Teams score points not only at game play but also for their teamwork, their community service and their partnership with rookie teams. STEM Forward is involved in this important STEM program at multiple levels:

• Serving on the Executive Advisory Board

• Recruiting over 100 volunteers at the three day event.

Rube Goldberg Regional Competition Twenty-one teams from across Wisconsin joined us on March 6 at WCTC for the 2015 Wisconsin Regional Rube Goldberg Contest. They competed for the opportunity to represent our state at the National Rube Goldberg Competition on April 18. The challenge was to erase a chalkboard in 20 or more steps. Students celebrated their creativity with diverse themes such as the Seasons of Rube, to Back to the Future, Willy Wonka, The Simpsons, and the Magic Show of Berlin. This year's competition was slightly different, teams received three scores from judges on a run of their machine, a reset and then another run. The scores were totaled and the top four teams that placed were: Pius XI, Milwaukee Lutheran, Kimberly - Wonka, and Waunakee. Both Pius XI and Milwaukee Lutheran advanced to the National Rube Goldberg Competition on April 18, 2015 at WCTC. STEM Forward served as the regional coordinator for the competition along with members of the Engineering and Technology Partnership (Milwaukee Area Technical College, Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Waukesha County Technical College, and UW-Milwaukee). Over 40 engineers from southeastern Wisconsin volunteered their time as judges at the competition, making the event a great success.

Rube Goldberg National Competition Eighteen teams from across the United States joined us on April 18 at WCTC for the 2015 National Rube Goldberg High School Machine Contest, presented by Time Warner Cable.

Students erased their chalkboards in 20 or more steps with very elaborate and creative machines with themes such as James Bond, Home Alone, Rube's Kitchen, Marvel Comics and Basketball.

Teams received three scores from judges on a run of their machine, a reset and then another run. The scores were totaled and the top four teams that placed were:

• 1st Place - Centennial High School from OH • 2nd Place - Southeastern Career Center from IN • 3rd Place - Elk Mound from WI • 4th Place - Cornerstone Christian Homeschoolers from IL.

Science & Career Fairs STEM Forward helps numerous schools throughout the year by recruiting volunteers to serve as judges and mentors at science, engineering, and technology fairs as well as speakers at careers fairs and high school interest days. Some schools/organizations served in 2014-2015:

• Christ King School

• Milwaukee Public School District Science Fair

• ASCE STEM Expo STEM Forward would like to thank its members, partners, and volunteers for their financial support, in-kind support, and generous volunteerism. These individuals and corporate sponsors spend hundreds of hours each year sharing their knowledge and experience with students, directly impacting them with the importance of an education based in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Volunteers serve as instructors, mentors, judges at science and career fairs and other local programs, committee members and also speakers. Their dedication in supporting our next generation of STEM employees is to be commended and celebrated. Fiscal Report Fiscal Year July 2014—July 2015 INCOME: Grants $20,650 Contributions $108,019 Interest Income $64 Program Revenue $78,012 Events Revenue $95,040 Contributions In-Kind $53,939 Total Income $283,175

EXPENSES: Program $142,433 Management and General $96,938 Fundraising $11,852 Total expenses $251,223 Net gain for the year $31,952 STEM FORWARD Net Asset Value $108,321 STEM FORWARD Officers and Board, Executive Director 2014-2015 President—Robert Fieldbinder URS Corporation

President Elect—David Leckman Briggs & Stratton

Secretary/Vice President—Kathy Scherbarth GPS Education Partners

Treasurer—Sebastién François Duncan Solutions

Past President—Michael Cook Rockwell Automation

Cassandra Alston Johnson Controls, Inc.

Harry Becker Ideal Mechanical (Pieper Electric)

Fred Begale Badger Meter

Lynn Bostrom MAGNETEK

Dave Christofferson QuadTech

Steve Feest Experis

Mark Federle Marquette University

Eve Hall African American Chamber of Commerce

Patty Hagen Northwestern Mutual

Tom Heraly MATC

Brian Kost GE Healthcare

Phyllis King UW-Milwaukee

Dean Krueger Joy Global Jen Larsen Eaton Corporation

Kent Newbury Direct Supply

Mark Rounds The Boldt Company

Greg Schroeder We Energies

Bruce Spann Spann & Associates

Chris Taylor MSOE

James Wilke Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren

Stacy Zaja Time Warner Cable

2014/2015 CASH AND IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS INDIVIDUALS Cassandra Alston Harry Becker Lynn Bostrom Alice Brauer David Christofferson Jerry Chudzik Michael Cook Mary Dziewiontkowski Brian Eckrose Steve Feest Robert Fieldbinder Sébastien François Patricia Hagen Gerald Keppert Phyllis King Dean Krueger John Kucera David Kuemmel Jen Larsen David Leckman Sue Lunsford Rich Merkel Kent Newbury Walter Powers Kathy Scherbarth Scott Sparapani Van Walling Joe Warbington Clark Wantoch John Wehmeier James Wilke Kenneth and Edit Wolters Living Trust Scott Sparapani Chris Taylor Van Walling George Walker Clark Wantoch James Wilke Kenneth and Edit Wolters Living Trust

CORPORATE/FOUNDATION $25,000 + Rockwell Automation

$10,000+ Caterpillar Foundation Eaton Charitable Fund Joy Global, Inc. Ladish Foundation Luedke-Smith Foundation Time Warner Cable

$5,000+ Caterpillar Global Mining GE Volunteers Foundation H2Options NSF Grant Helen Bader Foundation M&I Foundation Magnetek Milwaukee School of Engineering Northwestern Mutual PPC Foundation STRATTEC Security Corporation

$2,500+ A. O. Smith Foundation Adecco CH2M HILL Eaton Corporation Evan and Marion Helfaer Fund Fiserv GE Healthcare GRAEF Johnson Controls J.W. Speaker Corporation Marquette University Milwaukee Area Technical College| SABIC Waukesha County Technical College

$1,000+ American Society of Civil Engineers S.E. Branch WI ASCE Wisconsin Badger Meter, Inc. Briggs & Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporate Foundation Direct Supply Foundation Experis/Manpower Gateway Technical College Generac Power Systems IEEE JF Ahern Co. KAPCO Kapur & Associates Oshkosh Truck Corporation Sentry Security Corp. Signicast URS

THANK YOU! STEM Forward's educational programs would not be possible without the support of the many generous volunteers, companies, colleges, and universities in the Milwaukee 7 region. We appreciate the time and talent that so many individuals share with us and with the students every year! For more information about STEM Forward, our programs, and how you can volunteer please contact us at: STEM Forward 1025 N Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 www.stemforward.org 414.810.7836

Rich Merkel, Executive Director [email protected] Kelly Wesolowski, Program Manager [email protected] Kiley Kurz, Program Coordinator [email protected]