Northeast Nebraska education compact expands outreach to students

Since 2019, more than 1,500 students have benefited from activities sponsored by the northeast Nebraska education compact. Now the compact, whose membership includes the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, is stepping up its student outreach through expanded educational opportunities and collaboration. 

More than 40 middle school students from 15 school districts attended a STEM camp at Northeast Community College in Norfolk on June 12. The compact, which includes 20 northeast Nebraska school districts, developed the event after input from the compact members identified the need for greater outreach to middle school students. 

Such shareholder input provides important strategic guidance for the Northeast Nebraska Agricultural Science and Natural Resources Education Compact, said Tammy Mittelstet, statewide education and career pathways coordinators for UNL’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. 

“The heart of the compact is collaboration,” said Mittelstet, who is also the compact’s coordinator. 

Courtney Nelson, a Husker alumna who majored in mechanized systems management, was one of the instructors at the middle school STEM camp, sharing information about drones and other precision ag technology. She is the precision agriculture trainer at Northeast Community College and is active in the compact’s planning and activities.

“The career exploration provided at the STEM camp had great value for participants,” she said, since “middle school students are at a pivotal moment deciding if they want to explore a STEM career or travel a different path.”

Nebraska Extension educators led sessions about robotics and agriculture during the camp, and Mark Stone, professor and head of UNL’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering, helped lead instruction about water science. Maeghan Murie-Mazareigos, head of the Math and Science Division at the Nebraska Indian Community College, co-led that instruction. 

In organizing the event, the compact partnered with the Nebraska EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) program, whose Young Nebraska Scientists program provided a template for the STEM camp. Nebraska EPSCoR, which provided funding for the camp, is part of the University of Nebraska Office of the President.

“Nebraska EPSCoR values partnering with CASNR,” said Jodi Sangster, outreach coordinator for Nebraska EPSCoR. “It’s important that we extend our National Science Foundation funding for STEM learning across our state. CASNR, with the northeast compact activities, has a great set of organizations working together along with responsive communities, and we enjoy being part of that.”

A seventh-grade student expressed gratitude to Mittelstet for the STEM camp, saying such an event wouldn’t be possible at his school, given the small number of students.

“Each of these schools couldn't individually have the camp,” Mittelstet said. “So, it was the collaboration of a few from each school that allowed it to be a success and have the numbers to make it happen. That is why this compact is so important: As individuals, we are few, but as a collective, we are many.” 

The STEM camp is one of a growing number of student-focused events the compact is organizing, with the university’s Haskell Ag Lab near Concord, Nebraska, a frequent host site. In March, more than 70 high school students from five area schools attended Haskell’s second annual Biology Day focusing on a range of ecological topics. 

“I have worked with the staff at Haskell to create opportunities for students to engage their science knowledge in new ways,” said Meaghan Vollers, science educator at Laurel-Concord-Coleridge High School, whose district is a compact member. “It started as a simple half-day field trip with my biology students, then grew to a full-day, multi-school event. Now we are looking to create more experiences for physics or physical science.”

A Biology Day event and a Physical Science Day event, each with room for 75 high school students, are planned at Haskell this fall. Mittelstet and Agnes Kurtzhals, on the Haskell staff, work with teachers on requested instructional opportunities at Haskell, whose 550-acre site includes extensive cropland, farming and ranching facilities, an arboretum, pollinator gardens and beehives.

“As an educator, I love that Haskell Ag Lab can support agriscience classrooms, college prep science classrooms and more,” Vollers said. 

Other student outreach events this year include a TreeRific Trees event for elementary school students at Haskell; a rocket science camp at Haskell; two camps on forensic science at Wayne State College; a second middle school STEM camp at Northeast Community College; and an Ag Lab Field Day at Haskell in August. 

The compact recently launched an online, interactive events calendar that facilitates planning and enables easy addition of new events. 

“The compact calendar is exciting because, as it evolves, it can be a reliable one-stop shop where K-12 partners can visit to see the plethora of opportunities offered for students and teachers,” Nelson said. “(Kurtzhals) has done a phenomenal job developing a comprehensive calendar for teachers to filter and sort to fit their needs.”

The compact’s original membership from 2019 consisted of CASNR, Little Priest Tribal College, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, Nebraska Indian Community College, Northeast Community College, Wayne Community Schools and Wayne State College.

In 2022, the compact’s membership expanded to include Educational Service Units 1, 7 and 8 along with these school districts: Ainsworth, Allen, Battle Creek, Boone Central, Crofton, Elkhorn Valley, Emerson-Hubbard, Homer, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Neligh-Oakdale, O’Neill, Omaha Nation, Ponca, South Sioux City, Stanton, Summerland, Walthill, Winnebago, Winside and Wisner-Pilger.