STEAM Hub 4 CISS

There are so many great organizations working towards the promotion of STEAM, but there is always ways to do more and do it better. “Better Together” is the motto behind the idea of organizing a coalition of likeminded organizations.

On april 10th, 2025, Promoted by BestHQ and hosted by PCC’s Willow Creek Opportunity Center many organizations and businesses came together during the Business Expo West/STEAM Pathways Summit. https://besthq.net/business-expo-west/

During Dr. Terrell’s presentation the following table was presented showing some of the many organizations that are active in STE(A)M in the Portland Metro Area.

Parallel to these (for-profit and nonprofit) organizations are businesses, big and small, that are related to STEAM, in particular those related to the environment and energy. As we move forward, we need to keep working on collaboration. Union is strength.

Each of these organizations have clear and specific mission and in some ways they have some areas of overlap. Which is a strength in itself. Let’s continue finding sources of strength and new ways to move forward.

Yes, there is the idea that collaboration is impeded by the fact that resources are scarce and in some way we are competing to get these resources but if collaboration makes these organization stronger that would imply that resources can be also improved and we’ll have a win-win situation.

The Hub is now collaborating with Chemeketa College Woodburn Center. Two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, in the afternoon from 4 to 6 we have STEAM coaching/tutoring. Students can come and do their homework under the eye of a mentor. A program for peer mentor preparation is now in the works, which will provide peer mentors with a diploma, and hopefully in the near future credits for a degree in teaching.

Think about promoting these activities, the promotion of one organization is somehow the promotion of the whole. For example, on Sunday, April 13th, The Hub was invited to participate in a radio program in Woodburn, OR to talk about the need for extracurricular/afterschool programs in support of STEAM. Even though the focus was to support hispanic students as the program was in Spanish the promotion for STEAM was universal. During the interview, the topic of youth identity was analyzed, and concluded in some fashion that STEAM is such a wide area that many students could participate in so they could find a pathway to a prosperous and meaningful life.

Isn’t this the whole purpose of education?

There is so much work to do, nobody can do it alone! Nobody should try to do it alone. That is why we need to come together and support each other.