STEMxYouth Summit (Global Student Technology Conference)

STEM Learning Across Borders

How can students promote STEM literacy for their peers? A student-planned STEM conference, you say? Our students have been doing this since 2015! A virtual global STEM conference before virtual conferences were cool. And now, an in-person STEM conference that brings together students, teachers, STEM researchers, and STEM professionals.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2015

Established

1.05K

Children

5

Countries

Target group

Students upper

Updated

April 2023

As we have noted, we want students in all corners of the world to be empowered, confidence, creative STEM learners. If one STEM learner makes one positive connection with one STEM researcher and/or professional, then we deem our efforts to be successful. We want to do more than narrow the achievement gap in STEM. We want more students with a place at the STEM table.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

Marymount School is an all girls' school in New York City. While our students are cognizant of the STEM gap for girls, our Upper School students wanted to empower all students to succeed in STEM. So, in 2015, our students worked with two internationally-recognized educators, developed the Global Student Technology Leadership Conference, which brought together students and teachers worldwide.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

Our students believe that every student should have a place at the STEM table. Success in this endeavor will only be achieved if students actively engage in dialogue and conversation with people in the field, as hearing and understanding people's stories helps you write your own story. Version 1.0 of the Conference ran for 12 hours online using Blackboard(!); Version 2.0 (STEMxYouth Summit) is in person (with an online version during the pandemic) for 6 hours. Our evidence is anecdotal; in all versions, we have drawn over 100 educators and teachers.

The students are responsible for planning all aspects of the Summit, including securing keynote speakers and workshop presenters; setting up registration; developing a public relations campaign; setting the schedule for the day; and managing "day of." The students effectively become project managers, running a full day conference and experience for high school students and teachers.

How has it been spreading?

We continue to draw a steady number of participants - approximately 100 - from year to year (we did take 2023 off to recalibrate the conference).

We also continue to draw noted presenters, including Dr. Deborah Birx, Covid Task Force Coordinator, and author Kelly Hoey.

The student coordinators' goal for 2024 is to livestream the local event to a global audience; for 2025, the student coordinators would like to have parallel events in Los Angeles and another global city, yet to be determined.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Contact the student coordinators of the STEMxYouth Summit at stemxyouth@marymountnyc.org.

We are happy to walk you through the planning process. In short, find some enthusiastic students, set a date, set a theme, connect with some speakers and workshop presenters, and run your own Summit!

Implementation steps

Pre Planning

1. Identify students in your school to serve as student coordinators.
2. Select an appropriate name.
3. Decide on a target audience.
4. Select a date and "day of" schedule.
5. Decide on an appropriate theme.

Coordinating Speakers and Workshop Presenters

This is often the most challenging part of the planning process.
1. Draft an email invitation for potential speakers and workshop presenters.
2. Consider your theme and be sure to aligned your speakers with your theme.
3. Research possible speakers online; connect with your school's alumnae office and/or parent body for recommendations.
4. Send email invites along with a response form.
5. If a presenter says yes, follow up immediately; if they decline, offer to connect the following year.

Promoting Your Event

Because the event is directed at high school students and their teachers, a dual PR approach is required. For students, short videos on Instagram, Snapchat, etc, work well. Remember, students will only sign up the week of the event.
For teachers, short videos on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc work well. These should be filmed in advance and posted on a regular basis. Develop a list of local schools to connect with. Six months ahead of your event, send a save the date card. Follow up regularly.

Registration and Scheduling

Set a reasonable schedule for the day. We schedule a one hour opening and closing keynote along with 45 minute hands on sessions. We do not recommend all talks. Our event schedule is on Sched.com. Be sure all speakers and workshop presenters are confirmed two months before your event. We use Eventbrite for registration. Eventbrite is free for less than 100 people and registrants can be sent directly to your Sched account to see the program.

One Week Before

Crunch time starts the week before. We do the following.
1. Confirm room locations for all speakers.
2. Test out livestreams for each session.
3. Test out presenter technology for each session.
4. Confirm all speakers and workshop presenters.
5. Send a reminder email to all registrants along with the code of conduct.
6. Confirm breakfast/lunch order.

Day Of ...

By the time you reach the day of your event, all of the heavy lifting has been addressed. 1. Set up registration table in school lobby.
2. Post session signage in the school.
3. Set up and staff the presenters' hospitality suite.
4. Double check food orders. When the event starts, we have students act as roaming problem-solvers who check in with each presenter. We also have a roaming photographer.

After Event

The day after the event, we send a Summit evaluation form. To entice attendees to complete the form, we enter all attendees who complete the form into a raffle for a $50 gift card.