Chief Science Officers from three STEM Hubs across Eastern Oregon met in Boardman for the CSO Spring Summit! During the event, CSOs from Frontier, Greater Oregon and Colombia Gorge regions had the opportunity to work collaboratively and discuss what they hope to implement in the upcoming year. Each school had the opportunity to share their Action Plans during a poster session and all 3 Hubs presented on the accomplishments achieved in their area during this first year of the program.
Key leaders were in attendance, including Jim Taylor from the Oregon Department of Education who serves as the Career Education and Human Resources Education Specialist in the Office of Teaching, Learning and Assessment. He wrote in an email to “share an enthusiastic Thank You for allowing me to join you at the Chief Science Officer event in Boardman yesterday. Having just joined the team at ODE, it was wonderful to get out and meet the leaders in the state who are doing such great work with students.”
Nickie Shira, Abigail Southgate and Christy Christopher serve as Oregon Regional Leads for the Chief Science Officers Program and worked together to host the event. As the CSO International Program Director of Student Success, I attended the event and was excited to share my passion for the growth of the program in Oregon and internationally. We practiced the program tagline with all attendees to increase the enthusiasm for their continued progress. “CSOs don’t just hope it happens, MAKE it happen!”
Mr. Taylor continued with a request. “Would you consider passing along my congratulations and appreciation to the stellar students and educators who serve as advisors, mentors and coaches. It was truly a privilege to see them in action. The students I observed and those with whom I had more intense conversations are the model of what I believe we all hope for in our youth. They were well-spoken, poised, focused and energized. The work of all involved in helping them achieve a level of mastery in delivering their message and engaging their community is to be commended.”
The CSO Program strives to create a diverse pipeline of STEM leaders and the summit proved to be a meeting place to celebrate the success of Oregon’s future educators, entrepreneurs, business and civic leaders, scientists, technicians, programmers and more! Chief Science Officers from each STEM Hub were recognized for their impact on the community and implementation of an Action Plan. In the Frontier STEM Hub, Nickie Shira recognized CSO Harold for outstanding growth and achievement. His mother Amanda writes, “Thank you for fostering the growth in my son this year. He was honestly surprised at the mention and award yesterday! He thrives on recognition it keeps him engaged and moving forward. He has really enjoyed this experience and has some great ideas for summer (hopefully he will commit three to paper soon). Thank you for teaching and making this such a positive learning opportunity! Your efforts are appreciated by our family.”
Congratulations to the Oregon CSO Program and the continued growth! We look forward to 2019-2020!
