2026-27 Scale-Up Programs

Black County YMCA 

"We serve a high amount of low income families who do not have the money to send their children to those specialized camps for their interest. This being the case, the more STEM we can include in our programs give us the opportunity to reach those children that would fall through the cracks and lose interest in STEM and give up on the field in general. I want to reach all the children and give them the opportunities to achieve their dreams."

Mazzuchelli Catholic Middle School

"Administrators and educators believe this opportunity will significantly strengthen our STEM pathway and provide a more advanced robotics experience for our middle school learners. The STEM Scale-Up Grant would provide the support and resources needed to successfully launch and sustain this program."

Oelwein High School

"The STEM Scale-Up program would provide not only financial assistance, but also professional learning, structure, and credibility that are essential for launching and sustaining a program of this level in our district. With the support of this Scale-Up program, we have the opportunity to change what is possible for students and ensure they are not at a disadvantage simply because of geography."

Lambert Elementary

"Iowa Stem Scale-Up opportunities have provided Iowa students of all ages materials and information that would not have been available any other way. The instructors have been excellent and educators and students benefit."

Norma Anders Public Library 

"The STEM learning opportunities for staff provided with this award is one reason I am so excited about this award. Everything I know about STEM has been through the Scale-Up STEM program and training through the State Library of Iowa. I have learned that STEM is much more than building. It's about creative thinking and having a mindset that allows you to make mistakes and keep trying. It's been a little intimidating learning about STEM, but every class I take gives me more confidence and has helped me learn to work through challenges creatively. I would like to encourage learners to also work through challenges creatively, and I am hoping to learn how to do this through the hands-on training provided with this award."

Resurrection 

"Our educators were impressed by the high-quality, engaging materials and observed firsthand how these resources sparked student excitement and curiosity."

St John Preschool and Childcare 

"These Scale-Up Programs are such a great opportunity for our staff to get access to high-quality training and the materials needed for implementation without the expense that would otherwise be unaffordable for us as a private program. This gives us greater access to being able to do so much more for our students through both the training and materials."

Wings Park Elementary

"I feel very blessed to have been granted a STEM grant last year, and have enjoyed learning how to engage my students with the STEM materials I received for our library last year. Students have been able to create innovative and beautiful projects with our Makerspace cart, which provided tools and materials not found anywhere in our elementary or middle school buildings.

It has been amazing to watch student learning shift from worksheet-based to experiential when engaging with the Makey Makey sets and 3D pens. Students are asking questions, testing plans, and working to improve their designs. Students are learning real-world skills and are engaged in their learning, which has led to a massive downturn in classroom behaviors when using these tools. Teachers have been bringing their students to the library for STEM activities that I can tie to read-alouds, giving students a positive experience in our library spaces. We are now seeing an increase in book checkouts and book renewals as more students are checking out books and reading them in their entirety."