CESTEM's Mission
- To provide outreach and regional service in STEM.
- To improve the quality of pre-college science and mathematics, with an emphasis on technology integration and engineering principles.
- To ensure public access to educational programs and authentic resources.
- To provide high quality professional development to K-12 teachers.
News & Events
Breakout Box Workshop
Join CESTEM for an in-person Breakout Box workshop on Tuesday, May 3rd from 5:30 – 7:30 PM!
Breakout Boxes are a fun way to engage your students in problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The games can be adaptable to any subject and as students work together, under pressure, they enhance their communication skills. In addition to team building, Breakout Boxes are a challenging student-centered activity that builds inference skills. Join us to explore the options for creating your own Breakout Game with items you may already have in your classroom. To receive credit, after the workshop, participants will be asked to submit a Breakout Game they create for their students using the template presented in the workshop.
- Date: Tuesday, May 3, 2022
- Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM
- Location: UNCW – MacMillan Modular, 626 MacMillan Avenue, Room 1021
- Fee: $10.00
- Eligibility: K-12 Teachers
- Instructor: Michelle Hafey
- CEU Credits: 2 hours in person with 1 hour assignment for 0.3 CEUs
- Register here: https://bit.ly/breakoutboxcestem
To borrow the Breakout Boxes from CESTEM’s Technology Loan Program, you must complete the Breakout Box Training Workshop.
In this 2-hour workshop, participants will:
- experience a Breakout Box Game using a variety of tools
- learn how to reset locks and set up a Breakout Box Game from scratch
- consider ways to organize and manage all parts of the Breakout Box Game
- review a Breakout Box planning template that can be used to create your own games easily
CESTEM's Michelle Hafey Elected NCSTA District 2 Director
Michelle Hafey has been elected to serve a two-year term as Director of District 2 for the North Carolina Science Teachers Association. NCSTA promotes excellence in science teaching and learning. District 2 serves Sampson, Wayne, Greene, Lenoir, Craven, Pamlico, Jones, Onslow, Duplin, Carteret, Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties.
NCSTA District Directors are the liaison between the science teachers and students teachers within their specific district and the state-wide organization. They solicit teachers within their districts to present at the yearly conference, identify exemplary practice within the district, and solicit recommendations for NCSTA professional awards. Directors encourage participation in local science competitions and attend these events to recognize student/teacher accomplishments. Each Director submits reports to the Board summarizing the science activities hosted by each district and the outstanding accomplishments of its NCSTA members. Additionally, District Directors help recruit new members and assist in identifying potential nominees for the elected and appointed Board positions.
Michelle was recently featured in the January 2022 NC Science Leadership Association (NCSLA) Newsletter, click HERE to read the members spotlight!
Click HERE to read an article about Michelle's director position in the Watson Chronicle.
IBEC Science Fair Academy Video Project
Isaac Bear students Eleanor Meinhold and Andres Valdiri have developed a series of videos to help students prepare for Science Fair. Working together with SFA advisor Brian Bishop, CESTEM's Heddy Clark and Michelle Hafey, and New Hanover County Schools STEM Specialist David Glenn, the SFA students created an eight-part video series that breaks down the Science & Engineering Fair process on a mentor-mentee level. Click HERE to read the full article in the Watson Chronicle. 2021 Computational Thinking Workshop
On August 4 & 5, 2021, Shelby Morge and Chris Gordon led a CESTEM workshop titled “Computational Thinking and the NC Computer Science Standards.” During the workshop, K-8 teachers learned about the new North Carolina Computer Science standards and reflected on what they look like in the classroom. Participants also engaged in computational thinking through cross-curricular, computer-based, and non-computer-based classroom tested activities. Click here to read an article about the workshop in the Watson Chronicle.
2021 PBL Workshop
The North Carolina Science Leadership Association (NCSLA) partnered with the Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning (CERTL) at the Wake Forest School of Medicine to provide two 3-day workshops this summer. Both workshops were designed to provide K-12 teachers with inquiry-based lessons in Problem-Based Learning that integrate science, math, language arts and other areas of the curriculum.
STEM SENC and the UNCW Watson College of Education’s Center for Education in STEM (CESTEM) and STEM Learning Cooperative provided support for the workshop held at UNCW on June 21-23. Click here to read an article about the workshop in the Watson Chronicle.
Contact Info
CESTEM Office Hours:
Mon - Fri: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Office Location:
Mailing Address:
UNCW CESTEM
UNC Wilmington
601 South College Road
Wilmington, NC 28403-5976
Please visit our Technology Loan Program page to view its hours of operation!
Impacts of the Center
Hosted professional development (PD) programs and outreach activities and served 388 participants, totaling 3,346 of contact hours of instruction, with most awarded licensure renewal or graduate credit hours.
Technology materials have been loaned to 90 unique teachers and 770 total teachers, impacting the education of about 13,000 students.
Has developed and integrated a new database of TLP materials and posted to our webpage; additional grants have been written to further expand the contents of the TLP; and borrowers are more quickly returning for TLP items after initial checkout and experience.
