News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
INSTEM Academy expands to include all North Dakota Native students
Jamie Wirth, the director of INSTEM, said staff wants to give students a new experience each year they come back. (Photo Courtesy of Tamara Jo Taft)
State announces partnership with Indians Into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
A summer academy program, Indians Into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or INSTEM, is expanding to reach all North Dakota Native students in grades 6 to 12.
“Since its inception six years ago, INSTEM has offered a wonderful opportunity for Native American students to explore,” State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesles said. Announcing the program expansion on Jan. 17, she added that participants also “experience what it’s like to live away from home on a college campus.”
The program is a tentacle of the Great Plains STEM Education Center, which opened in 2010 at Valley City State University. The center exists “to help create the path toward broadly implementing STEM education in North Dakota.”
When university Math Department head Jamie Wirth became director of the Great Plains STEM Education Center, he wanted to create a program that would benefit Indigenous students. While the university was just testing the waters to see if this program would work, INSTEM would become its biggest and most successful project yet.
It started in 2018 with 12 students who had just completed sixth grade in the New Town Public Schools on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Back then, INSTEM was a pilot project called the New Town Middle School STEM Academy.
Wirth said staff members are “quite excited” about expanding statewide. “We’ve kind of wanted to do this for a while now,” he said. Logistical hurdles, such as travel and chaperones, had to be addressed, he added.
Since 2018, INSTEM has been held nearly every year at VCSU in Valley City, about an hour west from Fargo. Though the program had to shut down in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, it would resume operation in 2022. Last summer, 54 students participated in INSTEM for three weeks.
INSTEM has a different curriculum for each educational level. Sixth graders start with a survey to determine which activities they’d enjoy. Each activity is about two hours long. Students might start with chemistry lab experiments and then transition to learn about photosynthesis for biology. Students might later spend time learning about engineering design and building bridges. Wirth said staff often takes students on field trips to the Red River Zoo in Fargo, a fan favorite.
Second-year students focus on learning about careers in STEM. In the past, Wirth said, staff would take students to interact with professionals at the Prairie Waters Education and Research Center, Microsoft, North Dakota State University and other institutions.
This year, rather than ask the older students to choose from a set of nine or 10 different projects, they’ll now be asked to focus and work with a professor on a long-term project. “We want to give them [students] a new experience every time they come,” Wirth said.
Due to the summer camp’s success, the Department of Public Instruction will be collaborating with INSTEM to open the program to all Native students in North Dakota. Previously, INSTEM was only open to those from New Town and the Eight Mile District, a part of the Trenton Indian Service Area located southwest of Williston. The Trenton Indian Service Area serves citizens of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas.
Administrators recommend students interested in participating at INSTEM apply by Feb. 28 for priority consideration. The final deadline for the program application is April 15.
INSTEM has been funded by various organizations, including New Town Public Schools, North Dakota United, Microsoft and North Dakota Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. Costs include travel expenses, food and instructors, as well as room and board. When INSTEM returned in 2022, the program received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief I and II grants from the Department of Public Instruction.
While the summer program is funded through 2024, Wirth said the Great Plains STEM Education Center hasn’t determined where to obtain the money for 2025.
INSTEM is a residential program because the instructors strive to give students the college experience. “Some of them might not be able to get away from home very often,” said Wirth. “They might not even know what is out there in the areas of computer technology or the sciences. Just giving them the exposure to see what’s out there and what’s available to them is super important.”
Sourcing & Methodology Statement:
Esser I, II, III Funding Applications and Allocations. North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. (n.d.-a). https://www.nd.gov/dpi/familiescommunity/covid-19-funding/esser-i-ii-iii-funding-applications-and-allocations
INDIANS INTO STEM (INSTEM). Valley City State University. (n.d.). https://www.vcsu.edu/academics/academic-centers/great-plains-stem-education-center/instem/
Dateline:
BISMARCK, N.D.