STEMS² Cohort 12 General Information Session (10/29/26)
October 29, 2026 3:30 pm
STEMS2 Network
What Students Have to Say
“There is simply no other program that brings together the academic rigor and the soul of responsive education in the way that the STEMS² program does.”
Events & Dates
STEMS² Cohort 12 General Information Session (11/06/26)
November 06, 2026 3:30 pm
STEMS² Cohort 12 General Information Session (11/16/26)
November 16, 2026 4:00 pm
STEMS² Cohort 12 General Information Session (12/02/26)
December 02, 2026 5:00 pm
STEMS² Cohort 12 General Information Session (01/05/27)
January 10, 2027 3:30 pm
Experience STEMS2
STEMS²
The MEd CS STEMS² program is designed for educators who want to be transformative, connect with community, engage students in place and experiential learning, transcend disciplinary boundaries, and gain leadership skills that emphasize respect and collaboration. Offered as a 13 month masters program, STEMS² focuses on real-world problem solving via project-based and place-based learning within a social context that integrate science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the social sciences while focusing on youths’ development in relation to their sense of self as local and global citizens.
STEMS² Professional Development
Professional development experiences are offered to formal and informal educators at the PK-20 level. Experiences are designed in partnership with educators and organizations looking to offer professional development to their communities and made available to broader audiences.
STEMS² Custom & International Collaborations
STEMS² is interested in building its network and participating in new partnerships. Entities (e.g. organizations, individuals, schools, departments, non-profits, etc.) interested in developing customized partnerships are encouraged to complete our Partnership Form. We look forward to hearing from you and building pathways for collaborations.
🍂The STEMS² Fall 2026 Newsletter is here!
There’s been a lot happening in our STEMS² ʻohana, and we’re excited to share a few highlights from the past few months! From welcoming Cohort 11 and reflecting on our 8th Annual STEMS² Symposium, to celebrating the growth of our professional development program, alumni, community partnerships, and more, this quarter’s newsletter is all about the people and relationships that continue to shape STEMS².
Swipe through to catch up with us!
💻 Prefer to read on a browser? You can view this newsletter, and revisit past issues, on the STEMS² website at the link in our bio.
Mahalo for continuing to learn, grow, and stay connected with our STEMS² community. 💚
#stems2 #stems_2 #uhmanoa #placebasededucation
🌱 Interested in joining STEMS² Cohort 12?
Come learn more about the STEMS² Master’s Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and see whether STEMS² might be the right fit for you!
Our upcoming virtual info sessions are an opportunity to learn more about the program, hear what makes the STEMS² experience unique, and ask questions about the application process, program expectations, and what it means to become part of our growing STEMS² community!
We have eight online info sessions scheduled between September and January, with a variety of days and times to make joining a little easier. All sessions will be held via Zoom, and meeting information will be shared with those who register.
🔗 Register at https://go.hawaii.edu/gKR
Know an educator, community partner, or colleague who might be a great fit for Cohort 12? Share this post and invite them to join us! 💚
#stems2 #stems_2 #uhmcollegeofeducation #curriculumstudies #uhmanoa
“ Where are you from?”
Most of us probably answer with a city, an island, a country, or perhaps our genealogy.
But what if “where you’re from” is also the smell of strawberry fields after the rain, the sayings your kūpuna repeated, the mountain you saw every morning, the foods that gathered your family together, or the place that became your refuge?
One of the first “assignments” in the STEMS² program is writing a Where I’m From poem. Inspired by George Ella Lyon’s poem and adapted through our own place-based lens, this activity invites students to reflect on the relationships that have shaped who they are—not only through geography, but through memory, language, family, culture, and the everyday experiences that make a place feel like home.
Within the STEMS² Framework, this practice helps cultivate Sense of Place. Before we ask educators to deepen relationships with new places and communities, we first invite them to recognize the places that have already shaped them. Understanding where we come from helps us better understand how we connect to where we are going.
This reflection also embodies the spirit of the framework itself. It reminds us that knowledge is not built in isolation—it grows from our relationships with people, place, culture, and community. By sharing these poems, we begin building pilina with one another through stories that are deeply personal yet universally understood.
The beautiful thing about a Where I’m From poem is that it is never really finished. As we grow, revisit places, learn family stories, and allow ourselves to become more vulnerable, our poems evolve alongside us. Many STEMS² alumni, even years after writing their first poem, return to revise it, discovering that their sense of place continues to deepen over time.
Mahalo to the Cohort 11 students who chose to share a small piece of their stories with our community.
#stems2 #stems_2 #whereimfrom #senseofplace #placebasededucation
Ova undah, undah, ova. Weaving is literal and metaphorical way to build relationships and nurture them. Ova undah, undah, ova.
#pilina #stems2 #stems_2 #ulana
Cohort 11’s 3 weeks of in-person learning journeys have officially concluded (but in reality, STEMS² is just one BIG learning journey)! Our final activity concluded us with what is STEMS², beyond a framework and beyond a program?
STEMsters, what is STEMS² to you?
#stems2 #stems_2 #uhmanoa #placebasededucation
A’ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia — No task is too big when done together by all. 🌿
Yesterday, participants of the STEMS² Symposium rolled up their sleeves at the Kaimukī Kīpuka Cultural Garden! From propagating plants and laying paving stones to building a new greenhouse with a full irrigation system, this service-learning experience at Kaimukī Middle School showed exactly what happens when we show up for each other.
Mahalo to our hosts and everyone who contributed their time and hands to growing this space!
We are grateful to return to Waikalua Loko Iʻa to begin the 8th annual STEMS^2 Symposium alongside our partners at @pacificamericanfoundation
In what ways do our relationships, with STEM, land, culture, and community, help us maintain, protect, and regenerate what matters most?
Some say that during our summers, one day of learning journeys is equivalent to one week. Today, we have *officially* completed one week!
STEMSters (past and present) what was your favorite learning journey from week 1?
#stems2 #stems_2 #learningjourney #cohort11
