Community Engagement and Public Service Activities

The IU Kokomo School of Education and the School of Sciences partnered to bring STEM acivities to students from Elwood Haynes Elementry and Boulevard STEM Elementary Schools. Funded by a $20K Duke Energy grant, this program on the IU Kokomo campus served 244 students with 188 adults also in attendance.

The purpose of the event was to engage students and families in hands-on, fun learning activities in the STEM disciplines.

The Design Center partnered with Carroll Consolidated School Corporation (CCSC) to create business identity collateral materials (brochure, flyer and mailer) along with logo development and two promotional videos for the elementary and middle/high school respectively. The town of Flora is repainting its water tower with the new CCSC created for this project.

Led by Michael Koerner, assistant professor of new media communication the IU Kokomo Design Center class functions as a professional design center, where students have the opportunity to gain real-life experience while offering services free to not-for-profit organizations throughout the north-central Indiana region. Working with  community clients pushes students' portfolios from a hypothetical situation to working with real people and their needs and expectations.

For several years the IU Kokomo Observatory has hosted thousands of visitors. Activities vary depending upon age group, time of day, etc. For example, during night time visits, we observe whatever is up that night. We always hope vistors can see the Moon. For daytime visits for P-12 students we observe the Sun with a solar filter on the Takahashi telescope which allows them to see sunspots and also use a hydrogen-alpha solar telescope that shows active regions on the Sun.

The goal is to increase student interest in STEM education and the potential that IUK has to offer them.

The IU Kokomo Career and Accessibility Center has created career readiness units for grades K-2, 3 -5, 6-8, and 9-12 that target appropriate Indiana School Counseling Competencies and American School Counselor Association National Standards. Each unit consists of 5 lessons. The program was piloted in Fall 2018 by Western School Corporation at Western Middle School. IU Kokomo career services staff went into the Family and Consumer Science classroom and implemented the lessons with two classes.  The 6-8 grade units have been successfully completed three times during the 2018-19 academic year, serving 150 students.

Investigating the feasibility of incorporating high tech equipment (similar to Top Golf) to attract new clientele (i.e. families for entertainment) or expand offering for existing clientele.

The Tomorrow’s Teachers: Growing Our Own program at Indiana University Kokomo is designed to identify, encourage, and prepare individuals in one’s local community who are interested in becoming an educator or educational professional. This program is based on a Grow Your Own (GYO) approach and only works through great partnerships. The IU Kokomo School of Education and local school districts work together to create a pipeline of future educators that will meet local school staffing needs and shortages.

Some of the highlighted features and advantages of this program include:

• Students will be taught by School of Education faculty through a blended format that includes on-campus meetings as well as meetings in local high schools.
• Students will participate in school-based field experiences. These are hands-on and intentionally sequenced in P-8 classrooms that are coordinated and supervised by district educators and integrated into IU Kokomo education courses.
• Students will experience hands-on engagement activities on campus where they’ll build community and network to gain a better understanding of the profession.

The Tomorrow’s Teachers program matches students interested in education with the resources to help them launch their career earlier. This program is currently running in area high schools. Courses can be utilized for dual-credit purposes and as part of a graduation pathway.

The program began in 2018 at Caston, Logansport, Kokomo, and Western schools, and later added Alexandria-Monroe. For the 2022 to 2023 school year, Hamilton Heights, Madison-Grant, Mississinewa, and Tipton high schools have joined.

An Indiana University Kokomo partnership with four local school corporations, to expand college and career pathways, received $1.2 million in Explore, Engage, and Experience (3E) grant funding from the Indiana Department of Education.

The program shares in more than $57 million in funding, awarded to 97 schools and community partners statewide, to support them in strengthening, expanding, and creating effective career pathways. 

IU Kokomo faculty and staff will work with leaders from the Community Schools of Frankfort, Maconaquah School Corporation, Northwestern School Corporation, and Tipton School Corporation on the Tomorrow’s  Workforce: Partnerships for Broadening College and Career Pathways project.

In addition to previously participating schools Alexandria, Kokomo, Logansport, and Western, the program adds Hamilton Heights, Madison-Grant, Mississinewa, and Tipton this school year. The grant funding allows for additional expansion in the future.