Deadline: Community Partners Showcase

The Central NM STEM Research Challenge is proud to offer community partners TWO (2) opportunities to showcase the work of their organizations, engage students/teachers/families in hands-on activities, highlight STEM careers available in their organization, and provide additional resource materials/flyers.

The in-person Community Partners Showcase will take place on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 from 3:00-7:00pm at EXPO NM in the Manuel Lujan Exhibit Complex – Hall B during the Student Project Set Up period.  Students, teachers, and family members will be coming in to set up student research project displays to prepare for judging which takes place on 3/23/23 & 3/24/23.  Student project set-up can take place any time within the 4-hour window, so the traffic to partner booths will ebb and flow with some periods of high activity and some with lower activity.

One of the components of our virtual “lobby” is the Virtual STEM Hall where we highlight many of our sponsors and other community partners.  We would love for your organization to be part of this effort!  There is no fee for reserving a spot for either the in-person or virtual options (or BOTH!!).  More detailed information is provided below the interest form link.  

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW OR SCAN THE QR CODE TO COMPLETE THE INTEREST FORM!!  

We look forward to having you with us!  

https://bit.ly/2023RCShowcase

Deadline to submit your interest form is Friday 2/3/2023

Details

COMMUNITY PARTNERS SHOWCASE (in-person) 

The Community Partner tables/booths can be set up in the Manuel Lujan Exhibit Complex Hall A from 2:00-3:00pm and taken down from 7:00-8:00pm.  The Community Partner Showcase will run from 3:00-7:00pm.  110-volt outlets will be available for lights, electronics, etc.  You may need to provide one or more UL-Listed extension cords/power strips to reach the outlets.   A table will be provided for your handouts, activities, swag, etc.  2 chairs will be provided with each table.  If you requested internet access, our team will provide you with the network name and password when you arrive.  If you feel you’ll need two tables, please let Karen Kinsman know via email at kkinsman@unm.edu.  You may want to provide display boards/backdrops, photographs, and posters that relate to your organization and what you want students/teachers/families to know about it as well as engaging STEM activities and/or “giveaways” you are able to bring with you (our folks love “stuff” they can touch, learn about, play with, etc.!).  Please make the display as interactive as possible.   

Students will be given a Community Partners Passport to take with them as they visit your booths.  There will be a question they need to ask in order to get a sticker for their Passport from you!  Students will turn in their completed Passports before leaving for the evening and be entered into a drawing for a number of prizes.  We will post the winners’ list on our website by Sunday 3/26/23.  For those of you who have donated prizes for our Virtual Scavenger Hunt the past couple of years, the Community Partners Passport will take the place of the Virtual Scavenger Hunt in 2023.

*If you indicate (on the form) that your organization can provide one or more prizes for the drawings, Karen Kinsman will be in touch with you to arrange for prize pick-up in the weeks leading up to Research Challenge.* 

VIRTUAL STEM HALL (part of the RC Virtual Lobby; open by 3/20/23; available through summer 2023) 

The UNM STEM-H Center team is thrilled to be able to offer a FREE opportunity to virtually showcase your organizations, share your work, and provide students, teachers, families, and interested community members (from within and outside Central NM) with resources, activities, etc. they can download or link to.    

In a separate form you will be able to submit online, you will be asked to provide specific information/items that will allow us to build your organization’s page in the STEM Hall.  

Required Items:

• High-quality digital logo file
• Contact information (name, email & [optional] phone # )
• 1-2 paragraph description of your organization, the work you do, and how it relates to STEM
• At least ONE resource, activity or weblink where resources/activities can be accessed (resource/activity files need to be PDF format)

Optional items:

• Additional resource/activity files
• Additional weblinks for students/teachers
• Up to 2 photos (JPG, PNG format) that depict your organization's work in action

The Virtual STEM Hall will “go live” on Monday 3/20/23 and remain accessible via the 2023 Central NM STEM Research Challenge online “lobby” for a couple months afterwards.  All resource files will be housed on the STEM-H Center website alongside our existing downloadable resources and be available to anyone visiting our website.  Additionally, we will share links to the various resources in future eblast newsletters that go out to approximately 3,000 people.  We are so excited to again be able to provide the Virtual STEM Hall experience as part of our publicly available 2023 Central NM Hybrid STEM Research Challenge events and look forward to your organization joining us!