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.