Education Commons^™

Personal Reflections / 12.20.18, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

Today as our IMSA students depart from their IMSA home to spend winter break at their "other" home, I want to wish them and their families a very joy-filled winter break. I know that our staff, including myself and the faculty, look forward to enjoying the holidays with our respective families.

Last Friday, our students, led ably by our Music Faculty Mary Beth McCarthy and Emily Cooley, put on a spectacular music program, "Sleigh Ride Around the World". Many family members who joined us can attest to the quality and variety of the performance. I was so impressed with the …

Report Of The President / November 21, 2018, José M. Torres

President's Report

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

This report provides the Board of Trustees with information regarding Academy activities and the progress that we are making toward achieving our IMSA Impact and Outcomes Statement and Priority Outcomes. I organize the Report of the President, where appropriate, around the IMSA Impact and Outcomes document:

Three Pillars:

1. STEM Teaching and Learning
2. Operational Capacity
3. Stakeholder Engagement

One Strategy:

Strengthen Employee Engagement

Four Priorities for Academic Year 2018-2019:

• Guide the integration of UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals
• Advance equity and excellence
• Develop our international strategy
• Work on phase 1 of the innovation camp

House Resolution No. 1247, Linda Chapa La Via

Documents

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Leon Max Lederman, who passed away on October 3, 2018; and

Diversity And Inclusion In The Science Classroom, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

A Diversity, Epidemiology and social justice unit was incorporated into the Physiology and Disease curriculum in Fall 2016. Students discussed topics such as social and cultural influences on diversity thinking, and selective treatment in hospitals based on race. It was very noteworthy that students were united in their thinking regarding diversity and inclusion, despite the fact that they were from different backgrounds and diverse cultures. In 2017, additional discussions were held on equity in education. Students who were otherwise reserved were encouraged enough to express their views, and everyone appreciated the fact that they had been included.

Environmental Impact- Using Digital Media To Focus Student Learning, Crystal Randall, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch

Faculty Publications & Research

Environmental issues are global challenges that our students will have to address in their future. Addressing these issues through curriculum helps bring purpose to students’ learning. We have developed a capstone project in our introductory biology class that allows students to engage in these issues in a creative and personalized manner, and which asks students to not only address the biology at the core of these issues but also suggest possible solutions to the problem. In this session, we will share how we scaffold our curriculum to prepare students for this experience, as well as show examples of student work.

Engaging Students In Fundamental Biological Concepts Through Un Sustainability Goals, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch

Faculty Publications & Research

Advanced Biological Systems is year-long introductory biology course for Juniors at IMSA. It is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals, the use of which has been identified as an initiative for curriculum development. These goals help to bring purpose to students’ learning. We have identified three of the seventeen goals as guideposts for our curriculum. These are clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, and good health and well-being. In this presentation, we will share our curriculum development process and examples of instruction linked to these UN goals.

Leadership Education And Development In Stem High Schools, Andrea Stuiber, Katie Berger

Staff Publications & Research

Leadership. Education. Development. How are we inspiring young adults to grow as good and ethical leaders? Leadership should not be defined by a title or label. It’s about developing the perspective, skills and personal style of the whole individual. Through the LEAD program at IMSA, we believe that leadership can be learned through discussion and application. Thus, we have designed a year long course that takes an intricate look at various definitions, theories, models, and conceptualizations of leadership. Students are challenged to think critically about leadership during peer-to-peer facilitated class discussions, hands-on exercises, and group work.

Imsa Allies Program: The Power Of Near-Peer Teaching, Gwen Seeley-Joosse, Megan Scherer

Publications & Research

IMSA ALLIES is a STEM leadership development program that trains high school students as teachers and group leaders to deliver inquiry based hands on science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities (STEM) in the community. In this session you will learn about the benefits of this type of program and how to implement one at your school.

Reading Robot Light-Up Bookmarks, Professional Field Services

Hands-on STEM Activities

Materials: Robot Bookmark Template, LED light, 3V Lithium Battery, 3 strips of copper tape (approx. 3 in. or 8 cm.)

Personal Reflections / 11.1.18, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

Dear IMSA Family,

As I stated in a previous Personal Reflection, during the coming months, I would like to highlight one of our Academy priorities during each Reflection. Today, I'm highlighting our International Strategy.

Yet, I cannot jump straight into my topic today. The terror-filled event of the past few days, the deadliest attack on Jews in US history where 11 of our fellow human beings were murdered at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, has torpedoed any sense of safety that we might have held. I

Diversity Plan: Academic Year 2017/2018 Status Report, Illinois Mathematics Amd Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

Below are some highlights of IMSA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work, Academic Year 2017-2018:

• Created Equity and Excellence Policy based on a model of Inclusive Excellence that is now board approved.
• Developed Diverse Fellows program, to be piloted Academic Year 2018-2019.
• Created Diversifying STEM Equity Model.
• Implemented “I am not racist, am I” e-learning curriculum, film and discussion with all juniors, n = 20; 50 faculty/staff were trained to facilitate discussions.
• Conducted a train-the-trainer Safe Zone workshop for 27 faculty/staff, which led to the creation of 68 safe spaces.
• Rolled out Live-Safe app, which promotes student safety and can be …

Personal Reflections / 10.17.18, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

As many of you know, Dr. Leon Lederman, founding father of IMSA, Nobel Laureate in Physics, former Director of Fermi Lab, husband, father, teacher, and mentor, passed away on October 3, 2018. Dr. Lederman belonged not only to IMSA, but to the world. We mourn his loss. And today, I am taking a short pause from my regular Personal Reflections to share with you how Dr. Lederman has impacted our lives.

I am the first President of IMSA who never had an opportunity to meet Dr. Lederman personally. Two years ago, during our 30th anniversary, I read much about IMSA's …

Proclamation, Bruce Rauner

Documents

WHEREAS, Leon Max Lederman was born on July 15, 1922, in Manhattan, New York to Morris and Minna Lederman; and,

Nurturing The Talent Pipeline For An Emerging Global Workforce, Robert Hernandez, Richard D. Busby

Publications & Research

Passion. IMSA’s ability to produce thinkers and problem solvers doesn’t just breed pragmatists who know what it takes to be successful – it also gives students the chance to discover their passion. The more they try and the more they experience, the more they discover what they love. The chance to pursue passion means graduates have a greater sense of vision – and a greater chance of realizing their true potential.

IMSA teaches students to be global citizens in a diverse world. IMSA embraces diverse perspectives enriching understanding and the knowledge, attitudes, and skills required to function as …

Co-Design Apprenticeships & Future Workforce Pathways: Corporate Hr & University Partnerships, Richard D. Busby, Newton Moore, Michelle Eppler

Publications & Research

Strategic Opportunity:

The workforce is ever-changing. Our latest challenge is finding workers who walk in with our needed skills and knowledge. This developed workforce is scarce and expensive. With the current workforce skills gaps increasing and rapidly changing job requirements, we need to think strategically and maximize all of our learning and development programs and dollars. This roundtable will discuss using tuition assistance and apprenticeships to create leadership development programs effectively and efficiently through partnerships. We will discuss the untapped opportunities within tuition assistance programs and how to align training and tuition assistance programs to build leadership pipelines about their …

Imsa360: Fall 2018, Imsa Fund

IMSA Fund Reports

Buoyed from the energy and success of hosting the 14th Annual International Student Science Fair (ISSF) this past summer and outside recognition by niche.com as the #1 Public High School, the 2018-2019 Academic year is moving at a robust pace.

Excerpt: From the President

03. Socent Networking Fair, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

SocEnt

No abstract provided.

04. Dead Aid & Theory Of Change, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

SocEnt

The theory of change method is designed to bridge the gap between the initiation of an effort and the solution. Using the Theory of Change model, students will be able to find a long-term goal for their macro-problem and work backward to find an entry-point where an intervention is required. Groups will ultimately finalize their pain-point, target audience, and a more specific area of research. In addition, understanding dead aid is necessary for creating a successful product. A solution falls under dead aid when it doesn’t consider its target audience enough or dives deep enough into a pain point, resulting …

07. Pitching And Sustainability, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

SocEnt

It’s important to look at how a venture affects the world around it; ventures don’t exist in their own universe, after all! This module intends to go in-depth as to what metrics a social venture should look at in order to gauge how sustainable its practices are, both externally — with respect to its environment — and internally, with respect to its funding cycle. It will also help students become more comfortable with pitching their ideas, speaking off the cuff, and being creative!

02. Target Audience And Pain Point, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

SocEnt

This module will introduce students to the first key part of design thinking: understanding the problem. Understanding the problem encompasses having a clearly defined target audience and a well-researched pain point. They’ll find out how to dig deep into a problem to find the causes and issues surrounding it, rather than just settling with problems at face-value. They will also be able to apply those concepts on a local level and develop the beginnings of an SEV by working with these ideas.

06. The Lean Startup, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

SocEnt

This modules aims to go further into the lean startup than students have done in previous modules. It introduces three key features from the lean startup: the minimum viable product, the Build-Measure-Learn loop, and pivots. These three techniques are integral in the lean startup methodology, which focuses on minimizing risk, failing fast, and using the minimum amount of resources, time and funding.

01. Welcome To Socent, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

SocEnt

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

06. Mid, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

For the first time, MID will be done on a smaller, classroom-to-classroom scale. It aims to serve as a checkpoint for student progress on their policies and give a place to provide feedback.

03. Legitimation And Implementation, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

In module 4, students will begin to explore some of the political aspects of public policy, that is, legitimation and implementation. Thus far, they should have developed an adequate array of facts, statistics, and demographics from many perspectives for their issue; now they begin the task of making their policy into something that really works. This module will also introduce students to the ethics of political lobbying.

02. Agenda Setting And Problem Definition, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

This module aims to introduce students to the first two steps of EnACT’s policy cycle: Problem Definition and Agenda Setting. Through this, students will understand what inherency is and learn how to bypass political gridlock and break the status quo. In addition, students will learn the differences between saliency and intensity and apply it to real-life situations.

12. Post-Slx, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

In this module, students will research about different philosophers and their beliefs. They will understand how their beliefs differ and how they can apply them to real world situations. Along with the political philosophers, the students will learn about up-to-date current affairs, and try to make connections with previous lessons taught throughout the entirety of LEAD, CORE and EnACT. Since this is a closing module, heavy emphasis will be added on skills and topics that were utilized during SLX. The lesson will be updated soon before the date of the module for the most relevant and recent connections to current …

10. Impact Ii, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

A crucial aspect of politics is the use of data as a means to convince people of their side. Data can be manipulated to say almost anything a person wants, which can be a means of deception. A common phenomenon in the political sphere is “fake news,” which is often caused by a misconstruction of facts. In order for students to be able to find credible and reliable information, they must be able to identify and acknowledge bias when looking through different sources of media.

04. Evaluative Criteria And Policy, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

As a result of many obstacles in the political sphere, it can often be difficult to pass policies. A multitude of reasons such as morals, values, beliefs, economics, and more can inhibit a policy from appealing to enough politicians to make it all the way through the process of becoming a law. Because of this, policy alternatives should be created. These are different approaches to solve the problem that was being addressed with the initial policy. Module 4 will also give students a perspective on the issues they are attempting to resolve with their policies by introducing them to evaluative …

09. Talking, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

Quality public speaking is a skill needed by most yet possessed by few. It is a skill needed at least once by every individual in their lifetime, and being able to speak well and with purpose helps draw the line between giving a speech and ensuing motivation in an audience to follow your purpose. Students will learn the different aspects of a good speaker and how these skills can benefit not only their presentation abilities, but their personal confidence and career assets as well. This module will also help students prepare meaningful and significant presentations for SLX.

08. Enactivism, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

This module will further explain activism, introducing students to methods of activism as well as providing modern day examples.