2025 Events
In partnership with New Era Superintendents and QoreInsights, the Black Belt STEM Education Institute successfully hosted the Alabama Black Belt Superintendents: Rising Together & Leading Forward event in Montgomery, Alabama. This was a collective of forward-thinking superintendents, educators, and leaders coming together to drive meaningful change, exchange innovative strategies, and strengthen the future of education in Alabama’s Black Belt region. From data-driven decision-making to transformative leadership approaches, the event fostered collaboration and set the stage for sustainable improvements in student outcomes and community impact.
This professional development session featured multiple providers, including Plasma Games, RocketDrones, U.S. Space and Rocket Center, EdFarm, STIIX, Kai XR, Learning Blade, Eduvero, Quanthub, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Plasma Games engages students through interactive, game-based learning that enhances science understanding and improves test scores. See your students succeed using Nearpod’s award‑winning interactive instructional delivery, standards-aligned platform. Ed Farm is the digital education partner for communities, working with K-12 school districts to develop dynamic digital educators and power student learning with technology to help provide equal access to information needed to fill or create the jobs of the future. STIIX offers affordable STEM experiences for teachers and high quality STEM kits, while Kai XR brings immersive HQIM lessons to elementary schools in subjects like math and science. Learning Blade introduces students to STEM careers through problem-based learning, and QoreInsights offers professional learning to drive student academic growth and well-being. QuantHub delivers digital literacy and data fluency training via microlearning. This opportunity enhanced teaching practices and brought meaningful experiences to the classroom.
Science Olympiad is a nationwide competition. Students competed in 12 events that included earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, math, and engineering. Science Olympiad is designed to increase a student’s interest in STEM fields and provide recognition for outstanding achievement in team events. There were a total of 70 students, 7 teams, and 4 schools represented, including University Charter School and Livingston Jr. High School out of Sumter County, and Robert C. Hatch and Francis Marion Schools out of Perry County.
Aviation Day was the second annual successful collaboration between Wallace Community College Selma and Craig Field Airport to inspire and empower underprivileged students toward exciting careers in aviation. It hosted over 600 middle and high school students who participated in immersive experiences and engaging activities, exploring different facets of the aviation industry and interacting with seasoned professionals. The day’s highlight was the keynote address by Mr. Chris Strickland, President of Dunn University and Retired Air Force Colonel. The UWA Black Belt STEM Education Institute demonstrated drones, Virtual Reality, and airfoils at the event.
This professional development session featured multiple providers, including Eduvero, EdFarm, STIIX, Kai XR, Learning Blade, QoreInsights, Quanthub, Rocket Drones, Ozobot, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office! Plasma Games engages students through interactive, game-based learning that enhances science understanding and improves test scores. Ed Farm is the digital education partner for communities, working with K-12 school districts to develop dynamic digital educators and power student learning with technology to help provide equal access to information needed to fill or create the jobs of the future. STIIX offers affordable STEM experiences for teachers and high quality STEM kits, while Kai XR brings immersive HQIM lessons to elementary schools in subjects like math and science. Learning Blade introduces students to STEM careers through problem-based learning, and QoreInsights offers professional learning to drive student academic growth and well-being. QuantHub delivers digital literacy and data fluency training via microlearning.
Total Number of Participants: 20
At this institute, teachers embarked on a data science adventure, collaborating on relevant student projects that will impact their communities, including water-quality, gun violence, and mental health. Teachers also explored the UWA Cahaba Biodiversity Center, learning about the unique biodiversity in Alabama and ways they can use the Biodiversity Center for future planning opportunities, student trips, and overall educational impact.
At this ML-BOTS Coding Camp, students learned about coding and driving robotics, artificial intelligence, and ways that these skills are used in space and career application.
Total Number of Students Attending: 50
During this two-day workshop, teachers completed hands-on lessons in CodeSpace with a physical device, followed written instructions in CodeSpace and direct instruction, wrote programs that control devices They will write programs that control a device, explored programming concepts and created digital simulations, and collaborated with other educators through discussion and breakout sessions. Lastly, teachers were given resources and reviewed and created lesson plans for implementation that accompany the curriculum.
Number of Teachers Attending: 10
12 students from Sumter County, Greene County, Pickens County, and Baldwin County participated in this four day, fully inclusive STEM Camp, where they connected with nature through exciting hands-on activities and participated in over 20 laboratory activities including edible slime, solar powered cars, DNA extraction, and bugs for breakfast.
Number of Students Participating: 12
During this PD session, co-hosted by Auburn COSAM, teachers in grades 3-12 learned about Science Olympiad, including implementation methods, events, rules, resources, and other pertinent information about the 2025-2026 Science Olympiad Event schedule.
Number of Teachers Attending: 16
Number of School Districts: 12
This event, held at Alabama State University, and featuring Regions Bank, Montgomery Public Schools, Junior Achievement of Alabama, and the UWA Black Belt STEM Education Institute, helped to prepare middle and high school students for their future through financial literacy, college and career preparation, and hands-on STEM activities.
2024 Events
This took place in the Hughes Gymnasium and hosted many robotics teams from the Alabama Black Belt Region. For many of the participants, it was their first competition, but some experienced teams competed as well. This was the first robotics competition hosted at the University of West Alabama.
At this hands-on training, teachers received a free STEM kit, had meaningful discussions about the current status of STEM Education, became students for two hours, and learned about all the STEM Kits available through STiiX. Following is the number of participants by school and district:
Total Number of STEM Kits Received: 50
Total Number of Teachers Trained: 29
Total Number of Districts Impacted: 13
This was an immersive workshop designed specifically for educators wanting to compete in Vex Robotics. This workshop empowered teams to bring cutting-edge STEM education to classrooms. This hands-on training covered the fundamentals of robotics education, focusing on practical skills, and collaborative strategies to engage and inspire students in STEM learning. Key Focus Areas included Engineering Notebook Mastery, Engineering Problem Solving, Introduction to Programming VEX Robots, and Student/Teacher Build Sessions. Teachers received 7 hours of TEAMS Credit for participating in this professional development session. Participants included: 2 teams from Lowndes County, a total of 14 students from two schools. 2 teams from Marengo County, a total of 6 students from two schools. 4 teams from Washington County, a total of 10 students from one school. 3 teams from Sumter County, a total of 20 students from two schools. 1 team from University Charter school, represented by one coach. 1 team from Aliceville Elementary School, represented by one coach. 1 team from Hale County Middle School, represented by one coach.
Total Participants: 14 teachers/coaches and 50 students from 10 schools in 7 districts.
The Black Belt STEM Education Institute worked with GEMS, Girls Engaged in Math and Science, to secure the first ever West Alabama location for the 16th Annual GEMS Expo. Girls Engaged in Math and Science (GEMS) is an educational program designed to actively involve girls in STEM-related activities through formal and informal learning environments. The GEMS Program supports the national need to close the STEM gender gap utilizing eight teaching strategies to encourage self-confidence and elevate interest in the areas of math and science with female students. At this particular event, seventeen (17) 7th and 8th grade girls and nineteen (19) 3rd through 6th grade girls participated. The morning consisted of Keynote Speakers in the area of women in STEM. This panel included Dr. Kelsey Bickett from QuantHub, Dr. Nancy Brooker from the UWA-BBSEI, Dr. Amy Pigott, a pharmacist from Meridian, MS, Kristen McKenney, a Registered Nurse from Meridian, MS, Laurel Esposito with Energy Alabama, and La’Tanya Scott with the Cahaba River Society. Following, the students presented their projects and completed hands-on activities organized by the UWA College of Education Pre-service students and Dr. Robert Mayben from Alabama Science in Motion. The 7th and 8th grade girls completed a HammerBuild, where they learned teamwork, measurement skills, critical thinking, math, and problem-solving skills. The schools represented were as follows: York West End Junior High School, Huntington Place Elementary School, Wetumpka Middle School, and Robert Brown Middle School.