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STARBASE Minnesota Instructor - Elementary Education or STEM Education

Full Time Teaching Position at STARBASE Minnesota-St. Paul for Elementary Education or STEM education to teach STARBASE programs to students in grade 5 Position to start August 2022  

Description: STARBASE Minnesota — how you have always wanted to teach, teaching hands-on, standards-based lessons with an excellent student/teacher ratio of 16:1 in an exciting, immersive environment, utilizing the best instructional methods and strategies, working with a passionate and innovative team to develop and implement curriculum, accessing leading edge and integrated technologies, having data and resources at your fingertips that helps you maximize student learning, while working at an organization that is highly valued, thought of and sought after with a long waiting list of schools wanting to participate, with strong corporate/community partners, and leading projects and initiatives while developing professionally – it is all here: https://vimeo.com/512637882/f76476e7bd 

STARBASE Minnesota is a leading educational nonprofit organization founded in 1993 whose purpose is to inspire and educate youth in STEM. Through engaging, authentic curriculum —designed and implemented by the STARBASE instructor team — combined with state-of-the-art technologies in an exciting, immersive, one-of-a kind learning environment, STARBASE programs exemplify the best of educational curriculum and practices that are in high demand by area districts and schools.  

STARBASE serves over 3,500 fifth graders/year in three different 20-hour, 5-day programs held during the school day fall-spring, and the Summer Next Generation Program to students entering grades 4-6. STARBASE Minnesota partners with over 40 area schools from eight local school districts to provide exciting, innovative, standards-based programs. Volunteers from 18 area STEM corporations partner with STARBASE in various aspects of the program bringing in “real world” STEM applications and innovative ways to engage students about STEM and future STEM careers.  STARBASE’s target audience during the school year is rich in diversity — language, culture, and learning. 

Classes maintain a 16:1 student/teacher ratio creating an outstanding environment for differentiated learning and student success. STARBASE students’ most recent full year’s stats demonstrate an average pre to posttest improvement of 83%; 96% of students reported STARBASE made learning fun; 94% reported an increased interest in STEM. STARBASE programs are built to engage students, are relevant to teachers and schools with strong alignment with standards, and the instructor team is top notch. Schools consistently report that STARBASE programs help achieve outstanding student outcomes in STEM in ways they are unable to. 

Due to several exciting initiatives, STARBASE instructor positions provide opportunities for professional growth, development and leadership in several other areas from the start, something less commonly found in other educational settings. During the pandemic when STARBASE was unable to serve schools in person, STARBASE Minnesota developed “STARBASE Destination Mars STEM Kits”, curriculum with over 20 exciting, hands-on, standards-aligned lessons and an accompanying website with over 60 mission and instructional videos developed by the STARBASE team, along with additional vocab, math and STEM career video resources, and all of the materials and supplies for each lesson packed into individual orange Mars mission student backpacks. These kits were distributed to 30,000 5th graders and their teachers at 420 schools across Minnesota this past school year and free of charge with funding from the state legislature through MN Department of Education. Opportunity, combined with the creativity, ingenuity, energy and passion of the STARBASE team resulted in providing what has now become an ongoing initiative that will serve 35,000 Minnesota 5th graders and their teachers in the coming school year and for years to come.  

STARBASE Instructor positions combine 4 hours of teaching per day along with curriculum and assessment development with other responsibilities related to STARBASE Minnesota’s STEM programs and organization. Aptitude in science, math and technology and in developing lessons/curriculum important; engineering, CAD software, and other VR and AR technology is learned on the job. Applicants must be licensed in the State of Minnesota, must have a strong passion for teaching/learning and in helping students succeed, have a strong interest and enthusiasm in STEM, have an excellent work ethic, and can communicate well with team members and with stakeholders. They must enjoy continuous improvement, creativity and innovation in their work.   

Funding for STARBASE is from Department of Defense, the State of Minnesota, local STEM corporations and individuals. There are 80 other STARBASE sites in the country; STARBASE Minnesota-St. Paul is one of the largest STARBASE sites in any one location. Our sister site is in Duluth, MN.   Position and Start Date: August 2022.   Areas of Teacher Licensure may be among the following: Elementary Education K-6; Middle School Science 5-8; Middle School Math 5-8; Secondary Science; STEM Certification; other related. Location, Hours, Calendar, Other: STARBASE is located by the Mpls/St. Paul International Airport. STARBASE is a year-round program. Regular hours are 7:30-4:00 during the school year; modified hours in the summer including shortened Fridays.    

Duties and Responsibilities: 
• Utilize a variety of instructional strategies that meet the needs of diverse learners and build on students’ natural curiosity to explore, create and problem-solve, teach STARBASE STEM programs to students, grades 4, 5 during school year, and entering grades 6 (in summer).   
• Research, develop and implement cutting edge curriculum in STEM that is reflective of STARBASE Minnesota’s mission and goals, is in alignment with state and national standards, and incorporates effective practices in teaching and learning. Integrate the application of “real world” experiences and help students broaden awareness of careers (per embedded strategies/tools in curriculum). 
• Evaluate and continuously improve own instructional methods and strategies, engage in individual and team reflective practice; Evaluate and continuously improve and innovate with STARBASE programs and curriculum based on assessment data, evaluations, observations, customer feedback and bringing in new ideas.
• Develop and/or continuously improve STEM assessments by analyzing pre and post test results, teacher evaluations, student surveys, and standards and incorporating research
• Enter and analyze participant and outcome data. Provide reports as needed. 
• Public relations skills – work with teachers, parents, volunteers, corporate and community partners; relay STEM messaging; Provide demonstrations, training and presentations in the community and at STARBASE Board meetings 
• Other non-teaching, program-related projects depending upon candidate’s skills & qualifications. Additional areas of work may be among the following STARBASE areas: STARBASE Clubhouse, educational technologies, liaison with schools, hosting pre-service educators for field experiences, STARBASE 2.0 mentoring program, working with other STEM nonprofits on project, other. 
• Excellent skills, interest and/or aptitude in technology and/or strong desire to learn a plus. Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree and valid elementary or secondary teaching license; STEM licensure a plus 
• Experienced in curriculum development and evaluation, STEM curriculum a plus  
• Education, training and/or experience in physical sciences or engineering a plus  
• Interest and aptitude in technology, including computer a wide range of software. 
• Working knowledge of MN State Graduation Standards; knowledge of national standards a plus. 
• Interest and desire to learn grade-level appropriate engineering design software and applications 
• Technology skills required; experienced in various educational applications a plus 
• Ability to work with students who are culturally and ethnically diverse, who have a variety of learning styles, and who may have limited English speaking and/or writing skills 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills  

To apply, please submit the following materials via email: 
1. Cover Letter
2. Resume
3. Letters of Recommendation
4. Transcripts (if more recent graduate)

Please note, if some letters of recommendation or official transcripts are not available at the time of application due to recent graduation, please indicate when they will be available in cover letter. 

Address to: Kim Van Wie, Executive Director and Melanie Peters, Program Manager


Subject Line: STARBASE Teaching Position