STEM Education comes home with the 2nd Annual Moms Night out for STEM!

The Putnam Museum will once again host Moms Night Out (MNO) for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) on Monday, April 23, 2012. Mom’s Night Out is a satellite event of the USA Science and Engineering Festival, held in Washington D.C. The brainstorm of the Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership (IMSEP) and Iowa State University, MNO targets caregivers, especially moms, by providing resources that make STEM education exciting and accessible at home. According to Jeff Weld, Director of IMSEP, “Evidence continues to mount that point to moms (and dads) as key to the attitudes and decisions of youth when it comes to STEM careers."

Our event last year, occurred simultaneously with 21 other venues across the state of Iowa. We hosted the largest of the 22 and are very excited to be invited back for the second annual event!

Moms (dads and other caregivers) who attend this FREE night can expect a keynote speaker, hands-on activities, prizes and refreshments. In addition, take home information for parents to use with their children. Childcare will also be available for those who have pre-registered. Moms Night Out for STEM is for parents of children currently in the 3rd through 8th grade.

Keynote Speaker: Tami Hedgren Tami Hedgren currently works at the John Deere Seeding Group office in Moline where she is the Worldwide Global Director for Seeding and Tillage Products. Tami graduated from Bradley University in 1997 with a B.S. degree in manufacturing engineering and received an M.B.A. degree from Drake University in May 2000. She joined Deere as a co-op student at the Des Moines Works in 1996 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in production engineering, supply management, order fulfillment, strategic planning, and operations.

Her two most recent assignments have been Factory Manager at the John Deere Ottumwa, Iowa plant and the Director of Operations for the John Deere plant in Iberica, Spain. Tami and her husband, also an engineer who works for Russell Construction, reside in Bettendorf where they are raising their three children (Austin, 11, Eric, 9, and Breanna, 4).