Heather Sherman to lead OSLN

From Aimee Kennedy Ph.D., Senior Vice-President of Education and Philanthropy at Battelle

I am excited to announce Heather Sherman as the Director of the Ohio STEM Learning Network. (OSLN) Heather’s new role reflects her commitment to growing strong partnerships with educators and industry partners. A prime example of this is her leadership of Ohio’s MakerMinded program.

Heather is a familiar face to many of you, having supported STEM in this state at Battelle for more than four years.

Both Dr. Stephanie Johnson and David Burns will continue to play an active role in the network, supporting OSLN as senior advisors.

Please know that I, and Battelle, are deeply excited to see OSLN continue to evolve and grow. The work you do with students in classrooms around this state is truly transformative and honors the mission Battelle was founded upon.

Sincerely,
Aimee

From Heather Sherman, Director of OSLN
Dear OSLN Members,

I’m excited to take the lead of the Ohio STEM Learning Network and continue the great work that has been accomplished since we first launched ten years ago. What started as an idea about rigorous, authentic learning is now a robust network of 55 schools providing opportunities for authentic, rigorous learning experiences for students across the state.

My priorities for the next few months are threefold: first, I want to make sure we extend a warm welcome to the schools that just received STEM designation in April. We’re so proud to have 11 new schools join the network, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, and help you make connections within the network.

Second, I will be working with Hub leaders and school leaders to make Ohio the greatest state in the nation for a quality STEM education. This includes doing all we can to deliver value to network schools, like providing opportunities to connect and share best practices at local or statewide meetings, spotlighting teachers and students through the OSLN blog, and through our statewide programs like our design challenge and student essay contest, and sharing information about resources and opportunities like the NASA professional development program last year, MakerMinded and Hub sponsored professional development programs. The network is doing great things—I want to make sure that each school connects to the resources and opportunities available.

Third, I’m working closely with the team at Battelle to prepare for our conference in July. As you may have heard, we’re partnering with ACTE on this conference, and we’re really looking forward to seeing all of you there. We know there is a ton of expertise in the network—we want to recognize that expertise, and for the first time we are bringing you the OSLN STEM Innovation Awards. To make this program a success, though, we need your nominations. Please take some time today and nominate an excellent STEM teacher, leader of advocate in your community.

I look forward to seeing you at the conference in July! Meanwhile, please don’t hesitate to contact me via phone or email.

614-424-5827, [email protected]

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