2023 STEM Education Conference Resource Page
Session Descriptions
Conference Evaluation
Conference Day Schedule
REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST (7:45 – 8:30 am)
WELCOME & KEYNOTE (8:30 – 9:15 am)
Esther Ledesma Pumarol, MBA, MS
Director, HR Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Corporate Giving at Xcel Energy, Latina Leader and Equity Advocate and Author.
Esther Ledesma Pumarol is originally from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She’s currently a Global Senior Product Manager at Medtronic. With 12+ years of experience, Esther’s has held several engineering and marketing roles across the US. Esther graduated from the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Product Design. She has a Master of Science in New Product Development from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, and a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in International Business and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin.
Esther is an active advocate for education, diversity, and equity in her community. Esther currently serves as an executive board member for LatinoLEAD and Chair of the Professional Development Conference “LiderCon” in Minneapolis. She’s participated in and lead a wide range of DEI initiatives at Medtronic and Eaton Corporation. She is a twice published author with her participation in both “Green Card STEM Voices: Stories from Minnesota immigrants” from the nonprofit Green Card Voices, and as part of the Anthology “Hispanic Stars Rising” from the We are All Human foundation in New York. More recently, she has been featured in 2022 by the LatinaStyle magazine for her focused work on DEI and STEM representation. Additionally, she was recognized as a 2022 HACR Young Corporate Achiever by the Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility, and she was recognized as the 2021 SHPE Diversity STAR Award by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers by her efforts, impact, and contributions towards advancing DEI initiatives within corporate America and the local community.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
THE BEAUTY OF RISK-TAKING FOR PERSONAL GROWTH
Sometimes looking in unexpected places, confronting our own biases and taking diverse opportunities can represent the chance to unlock the beauty and richness in our journey. After years of experiences, I’m excited to share my story on how I’ve navigated through risk while discovering that stepping out of my comfort zone has allowed me to find positive and meaningful ways to grow and become the best version of myself.
SESSION ONE (9:30 – 10:30 am)
Creative & Critical Thinking
Greer Lichtenberg – createMPLS
Attending to Teacher Strain and Cultivating Resilience
Heidi Bausch-Ryan & Hannah Dufek – CARE Counseling
Batteries, Bulbs and Wires: Low-cost, Low-tech Learning through Making
Eileen King & Jess Benson – The Bakken Museum
Transform Your Teaching with Design Thinking!
Vic Dreier – Project Lead the Way
Help Your Students Discover the Excitement of Engineering
Tom Allen – H2I Group
Teaching Spreadsheets and Basic Statistics with Science Labs
Dan Ehresmann – Southwest Christian High School
Promoting a Claim-Evident-Reasoning Culture in your Classroom
Renee Nesnidal – Science from Scientists
SESSION TWO (10:50 – 11:50 am)
Engineering and the Irene Hixom Whitney Bridge at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Susan Silberhorn – Nativity of Our Lord School, Eileen Moening – Carondelet Catholic School, and David Heintz – St. Peter Catholic School
Creating a Culture of Safety and Trust
Paul Bernabei – Top 20 Training
AI & Emerging Technologies
Michael Terrell, Udit Agarwal – NextWaveSTEM
Why Computer Science? Why now? Come Learn a:bit! (No experience required)
Vic Dreier – Project Lead the Way
Batteries, Bulbs, and Wires: Low-cost, Low-tech Learning through Making
Eileen King & Jess Benson – The Bakken Museum
The Remainder of One: A Literature and Mathematics Connection
Debbie Monson – University of St. Thomas
The Sky’s the Limit – Free Aviation STEM Curriculum for Your High School Students
Darlene Dahlseide – MnDOT Aeronautics
SESSION THREE (12:50 – 1:50 pm)
Developing and Using Models in Math and Science Classrooms
Leslie Spaeny – Accelerate Learning
Funding your STEM Vision
Vic Dreier – Project Lead the Way
Hands-on Physics with LEGO!
Rob Warland – createMPLS
Productive Talk: Promoting Participation and Equity in STEM
Natalie Hartung & Audrey Moorhouse – Community of Saints Regional Catholic School
Exploring STEM Careers at the Zoo: Engineering Solutions to Real Zoo Challenges
Kristi Berg – Minnesota Zoo
Cultural Humility in Relationships: Responding to the Self and Others
Hannah Dufek – CARE Counseling
10 Steps to Engineering an Experiential Learning Experience
Melissa Huppert – Minnesota State Engineering Center of Excellence
Industry Tools for a Classroom Setting
Jason Bruns – Minnesota State Engineering Center of Excellence
SESSION FOUR (2:10 – 3:10 pm)
survey administration 3:10 – 3:15 pm
Starting a FIRST LEGO League Program at Your School
Vicki Coaty & Jeannie Badger – High Tech Kids, Katie Humason – Minnehaha Academy
Keeping Students Engaged in Learning
Paul Bernabei – Top 20 Training
MINNDEPENDENT’s STEM Program: How to Write a Winning STEM Grant Proposal & Intro to Community Partnerships
Beth Murphy – MINNDEPENDENT
Teacher Questioning: How to Utilize Questions to Increase Student-Led Learning
Audrey Moorhouse & Natalie Hartung – Community of Saints Regional Catholic School
Engineering & Coding
Leslie Spaeny – Accelerate Learning
10 Steps to Engineering an Experiential Learning Experience
Melissa Huppert – Minnesota State Engineering Center of Excellence
Sponsors
CONFERENCE HOST SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
Science from Scientists is an award winning nonprofit specializing in scientist-led STEM education. We bring real scientists and engineers into your classrooms to teach student-centered, hands-on/minds-on STEM lessons for grades 3-8. We provide positive role models, and inspire students to see themselves as the future’s problem solvers and creative thinkers. Programs include: in-person and virtual scientist-led STEM lessons, teacher professional development online courses and teacher workshops.
PARTNER SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
MnDOT offers many free online and in-person educational activities and resources to help promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics from kindergarten through 12th grade. Visit www.mndot.gov/stem to access them and learn more.
PARTNER SPONSOR
CARE Counseling provides Outpatient Mental Health Therapy throughout the Twin Cities metro, Mankato, and online. CARE maintains same-week availability for Individuals, Couples, and Families of all ages and is In-Network with all major MN insurance providers. Our expert therapists receive a best-in-class, nationally accredited Continuing Education program. Clients schedule via telephone at 612-223-8898 or through our convenient online portal at www.carecounseling.com
- Care Counseling Information
- Care Counseling and Minndependent
PARTNER SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
PARTNER SPONSOR
createMPLS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing students in underrepresented communities for rewarding careers, by removing barriers and providing accessible STEM learning programs at no cost to the students or families. We partner with like-minded community organizations to bring quality, hands-on STEM learning to inner-city Minneapolis youth—especially young women and students from racial minority backgrounds in order to bridge skills and experience gaps, and help more students succeed in higher education and today’s job market.”