K-12 STEM Outreach Community

Community Mission

The K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Outreach Community of Interest’s mission is to promote and support pathways to STEM degrees and STEM careers for K-12 students as part of the national strategic effort to produce more STEM professionals for the nation.

Vision

The K-12 STEM Outreach Committee provides for the security of the nation by ensuring a robust STEM workforce.

Scope

K-12 students need to be exposed to STEM activities, degrees, and careers as they move up the academic ladder. The committee will work with the network of Posts, individual members, sustaining members, service branches, and strategic partners to increase opportunities for STEM exposure for K-12 students. The COI will also promote the Society’s STEM programming at local, regional, and national events, as resources allow.

Activities

• Categorize different examples of how the Post/individuals support K-12 STEM at the local level
• Identify and provide guest speakers/webinars on relevant topics
• Serve as a clearinghouse of STEM information
• Provide a calendar of STEM (SAME/Post and external) events and points of contacts

To learn more about the K-12 STEM Outreach Community of interest, contact a member of the Steering Committee, or reach out to Sarah Feighery, STEM Coordinator.

Community Chair

Victoria Hernandez
Program Manager, AFCEC

Immediate Past Community Chair

Joshua Graham, P.E., PMP, F.SAME
Project Manager, HDR

View Joshua’s leadership profile.

Upcoming National Webinars

• 
  July 22, 2026

  Webinar

  Progressive Design Build: A New Delivery Method Now Available

  Progressive Design Build – New NDAA language. This webinar will help explain the fundamental shift in federal construction delivery and clarify the meaning and application of qualifications-based selection processes for construction. Our expert presenters will address what this model means to acquisition teams and how industry evaluates and responds to these opportunities.
• 
  July 24, 2026

  Webinar

  CMMC Pause: Compliance and Contract Risk Continue

  The recent pause in CMMC Phase II delays the expansion of mandatory third-party assessments, but it does not eliminate applicable CMMC or underlying cybersecurity obligations, Phase I self-assessment requirements remain in force.
• 
  July 30, 2026

  Webinar

  Meeting the Growing Needs for Energy Supply & Energy Security

  This webinar will provide a review of the electricity energy supply industry both globally and domestically. In the domestic analysis, the expert presenter will provide a detailed review of the evolution of the electricity energy supply and an analysis of recent trends at different time scales.
• 
  August 5, 2026

  Webinar

  Lessons Learned from Post-9/11 World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan Transportation Planning and Design

  The events of 9/11 devastated critical Lower Manhattan transportation systems. In the early planning and rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s in-house planning and architectural leadership established a master plan framework which considered its impact far into the future.

Related TME Articles – K-12 STEM Outreach

• 

  Transforming Energy Security at Camp Pendleton

  March 21, 2023

  A utility energy services contract completed in 2021 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton included transformer retrofits as an integral energy conservation measures to improve reliability and reduce energy consumption.
• 

  Collaborating with Alaskan Tribes on Cleaning Up Formerly Used Defense Sites

  January 26, 2023

  A collaborative program with Alaskan Native communities being led by a research team from the University of Nevada, Reno, is tracking and mitigating impacts from exposure to Formerly Used Defense Sites.
• 

  Conducting Thermal Remediation Under Active Railroad Tracks

  January 26, 2023

  As part of the cleanup at a Superfund site that was previously used as waste storage by the Department of Defense, a carefully orchestrated thermal remediation project was conducted that targeted the groundwater plume located underneath a pair of active railroad tracks.
• 

  Extracting and Purifying Rare Earth Elements from Waste

  January 26, 2023

  A project underway to develop proteins capable of extracting rare earth elements used in critical defense systems from manufacturing and post-consumer waste aims to secure this vulnerable supply chain and increase national resilience.