A Quilt in the Making!

Were you that kid whose mom captured every moment for the family photo album? Well thanks to the original project manager when eCYBERMISSION started in 2002, the educational STEM competition will soon have 13 years of history to display.

Kelly Foster, eCYBERMISSION Project Manager from 2002-2007, begun collecting eCYBERMISSION and school team T-shirts of participants at the National Judging & Educational Event (NJ&EE) each year. Kelly has collected close to 50 T-shirts that have been shipped off for quilt creation.

While the window has closed to submit a T-shirt for the eCYBERMISSION quilt, we’d love your

T-shirts submitted by a TA in Whiteface, TX

support in sharing the good news.

After all, this quilt represents a bigger picture. It represents past, present, and future students building their knowledge in STEM while improving their communities across the country!

And what’s an eCYBERMISSION experience without amazing volunteers that provide support, the same way your mom did when creating childhood memories.

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eCYBERMISSION STEM Competition Kicks Off Its 15th Year

Believe it or not, it's that time of year again! Registration for eCYBERMISSION, a web-based STEM competition free to students in grades 6–9, is now open.  Now in its 15^th year, eCYBERMISSION challenges students to develop solutions to real-world challenges in their local communities. Registration is open until December 7, 2016.

“We’re thrilled to see how the 2016-2017 eCYBERMISSION teams will accept the challenge and develop real-world solutions for the benefit of their communities.” said Louie R. Lopez, Program Manager for eCYBERMISSION. “Every year, I’m fascinated by projects submitted by our students. The bar is certainly raised each year with novel solutions to STEM-related issues in their communities.”

STEM professionals are encouraged to participate as volunteers—Virtual Judges, Ambassadors, and/or CyberGuides—to help build students' interest in STEM. eCYBERMISSION provides online resources for teams to assist with project completion. CyberGuide Live Chats, for example, involves volunteers providing virtual feedback to teams about their Mission Folders—the official write-up of their project.

Registered teams competing have until February 22, 2017 to submit their Mission Folders.

Veteran eCYBERMISSION Volunteer Ready for a New Year!

Sarah Cheney has always been really interested in STEM. Growing up, her parents were both teachers so it comes as no surprise her engineering route and her excitement with always finding any STEM program she could get involved with.

Sarah went to school for plastics engineering and has worked for the past 10 years as a Materials Engineer developing packaging for the Meal, Ready-to-Eat, commonly known as MRE. Just recently, she transitioned into a Program Acquisition Specialist role, so she’s not doing as much of the engineering anymore, but is still able to do

STEM demonstrations focusing on plastics and materials.

Involvement with the eCYBERMISSION Volunteer Program

Sarah was initially a volunteer Virtual Judge with eCYBERMISSION for two years and then switched to become a CyberGuide. She’s been in this volunteer role the past three years and enjoys being able to talk students through the program and engaging with the teams.

Sarah has also volunteered for two demonstrations at the annual eCYBERMISSION National Judging & Educational Event (NJ&EE) during the STEM workshop period. Sarah did a MRE packaging demonstration session during the STEM workshop. She brought in MRE crackers and had the students test and analyze the crackers and the packaging.

Sarah’s Experience as a Volunteer

During her STEM demonstration at the 2014 NJ&EE, Sarah had a young boy in the group that was so interested and paid such close attention during the entire demonstration.

“I’ve always liked STEM, but meeting this student, really showed me what a difference you can make in getting someone interested in STEM,” said Sarah. “It was absolutely wonderful having this kid participating in the workshop.”

Sarah’s STEM demonstration taught the students about the water activity and oxygen concentration in the MRE packages. The students loved it but the one boy in particular really opened Sarah’s eyes to the huge difference STEM mentors can make.

Patience is a Virtue!

Since volunteering with eCYBERMISSION, Sarah has learned patience. Being able to explain things in different ways can be a challenge.

“If the students don’t understand, it has taught me that you really have to change your approach in order to get the students to understand what you’re trying to communicate,” said Sarah. “It helped me to understand different learning styles and showed me the diversity that’s out there.”

In Sarah’s free time, she is spending time with her husband and 5-year old twins.

“We’re big in to the outdoors, with most of our time being spent camping and hiking a lot,” says Sarah. “Anything that makes the kids happy is good for me.”