When community partners share a powerful vision, remarkable things can happen. In southern Illinois, some of IMSA’s most impactful outreach programs in the Metro East area have evolved from a shared commitment to igniting curiosity. Thanks to the leadership of Dawn Waller, IMSA Metro East Innovation Hub Manager, and the extraordinary support of partners like Scott Air Force Base, which has supported IMSA STEM programs for more than 14 years, thousands of K–12 students are discovering new possibilities in STEM fields they may otherwise have never explored.
Through collaborative leadership programs, immersive summer camps, and hands-on learning experiences, this partnership is breaking down barriers and building pathways to future careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
This story was generously shared by our partners at Scott Air Force Base, discussing how philanthropy and collaboration are transforming the future of STEM education in the Metro East.
Igniting Curiosity, Inspiring Futures: STEM in the Metro East
Since 2011, the Scott Air Force Base Air and Space Force STEM Outreach Program has had a wonderful and longstanding partnership with Dawn Waller, Innovation Hub Manager at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy’s Metro East Office. As a result, many programs have been offered to K-12 students at local schools and colleges and attended by students who otherwise might not have the resources or opportunities to participate.
The mission of Scott Air Force Base is global mobility, providing worldwide logistical support and command and control for all U.S. military air, land, and sea movements through Air Mobility Command and its components, which are headquartered at the base. The base host is the 375th Air Mobility Wing, which executes air mobility operations including airlift with C-21 aircraft, aeromedical evacuation, and provides air
refueling support with KC-135 aircraft through partnerships with the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. The 375th Air Mobility Wing hosts many mission partners, including U.S. Transportation Command, Cyberspace Capabilities Center, 635th Supply Chain Operations Wing, a Reserve airlift wing (932nd Airlift Wing), an Air National Guard refueling wing (126th Air Refueling Wing), the Surface Deployment Distribution Command, the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Defense Information Technology Contracting Office, 15th Operational Weather Squadron and the USAF Band of Mid-America, among others. It sees service members from every United States military component as well as military members from foreign nations.
The primary purpose of K-12 STEM education is to equip students with critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills essential for future success in a technology-driven economy and to foster a STEM-literate and adaptable citizenry capable of addressing global challenges. This approach prepares students for high-skill STEM careers, ensures national economic vitality and security, and promotes diversity and inclusion within these fields by nurturing analytical, creative, and hands-on learning experiences.
Over the years, countless military and civilian dependents in the greater Metro East area have participated in programs such as Fusion, IMSA summer camps, and Air Force Association–sponsored initiatives like CyberPatriot and StellarXPlorer. These experiences have sparked curiosity and developed interest in pursuing further STEM studies and consideration for futures with STEM careers.
One such program was the MetroEast ALLIES program, a STEM leadership development program that trains high school students as teachers and group leaders to deliver inquiry-based, hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activities in the community to students in grades 3-6. Allies acquire valuable teaching skills and an increased awareness of the important role of “teaching” in most
careers. Additionally, Allies further their comprehension and assimilation of STEM concepts due to the need to consolidate their own understanding of the material prior to the teaching session. Studies also suggest that near-peer teaching of this kind can help at-risk students otherwise unlikely to pursue STEM fields to remain engaged— when students are taught by teachers with whom they can relate they begin to see
themselves as future scientists and mathematicians.
Through a semester-long journey, a team of twelve students from Belleville East High School met weekly after school to explore lessons in leadership related to effective teaching and leading, classroom management, supporting student risk-taking in the classroom, perceptions and perspectives, effective communication, and understanding themselves. Their work culminated in the teaching of an in-school, STEM-focused Funshop at BelleValley School. Eighty third and fourth grade students were inspired to think like inventors and see the technological possibilities in littleBits. Students used logic to create basic circuits and were challenged to design and create an art bot incorporating common classroom materials.
The ALLIES students offered much support and reassurance to participants throughout the brainstorming and design process. They were amazed by participants’ creativity and interesting approaches in tackling the open-ended challenge! Additionally, the ALLIES were quite insightful when reflecting on their emerging leadership skills and encouragement of risk-taking with the young students. BelleValley classroom teachers
and administration were grateful that their students had this exercise in creativity, problem-solving, and working cooperatively with their peers to achieve a goal. Beyond leadership programs, the partnership has supported a wide variety of summer camps designed to ignite curiosity and expand students’ horizons. Some camps immersed participants in the natural world, exploring how plants and insects adapt to environments shaped by humans. Others introduced forensic science, giving students the chance to analyze DNA, fingerprints, handwriting, and even voice identification to solve “crimes.” Budding medical students gained a hands-on understanding of anatomy by examining the heart, blood, bones, and muscles while math-focused camps showed students that concepts like circumference, diameter, and fractions could be as fun, and as approachable as “Pi.” Environmental STEM camps encouraged participants to explore solar and water power, the chemistry of recycling, and energy transfer, culminating in the design of their own energy-efficient houses.
Engineering-focused programs challenged students to design and race boats, dissect calculators to learn circuitry from the inside out, and experiment with biomedical engineering by creating Bristlebots to simulate robotic surgery. Students in the MicroSTEM program harnessed the power of smartphones and innovative scope lenses to make sense of some of the smallest things in our universe that we can’t even see.
Aviation-themed programs, fitting for a component of the base’s mission, allowed students to experiment with the forces of flight—thrust, lift, drag, and gravity—while building and launching rockets. They even simulated real NASA missions, testing how different payloads influenced flight outcomes.
Participants in past programs have demonstrated their continued interest in STEM, and nurturing that interest in others, by returning to serve as volunteers year after year. There are many other workshops, camps, professional development partnerships, and STEM events and activities that have forged wonderful opportunities for promoting cross-tell of STEM and its practical application to the real world environment. This amazing partnership has fostered a greater appreciation for STEM career fields both in the military and civilian communities and generated a future generation of STEM professionals. Scott Air Force Base is fortunate to celebrate the partnership with Dawn Waller and IMSA these many years. Her dedication and hard work are the key component to the success of these programs for the military and civilian communities in the Metro East.
