To help promote STEM careers among students, DoDEA is celebrating National Engineers Week February 17-23, 2019.Celebrated in the US since 1951, National Engineers Week calls attention to the contributions engineers make to society. It is also a time for engineers to emphasize the importance of learning math, science, and technical skills.

This year's theme is Engineers: Invent Amazing. To help celebrate this theme, DoDEA encourages everyone to take the time to marvel at the way engineering has shaped our lives with the items we use every day and to wonder what might be the next big innovations. 

During National Engineers Week, schools across DoDEA will be helping students explore engineering careers and learn about different engineering fields through hands-on activities, videos, and guest speakers. Members of our military community will be partnering with schools to share their engineering expertise with students. The week’s focus on engineering is designed to help students understand how engineers have contributed to our designed world and the path students can take to an engineering career.

The week’s emphasis on engineering highlights the importance of the skills students gain through activities, such as those suggested below, that concentrate on the E in the STEM acronym and the connections to science, math, and technology.  

• Students can ideate with the prompt: "I wonder..." Students could draw or write about an engineering innovation that they imagine could solve a problem or help improve our everyday lives.
• Teachers can explore with students the different types of engineers and what they do.
• Students can view videos that describe what engineering is, explain what engineers do, or that highlight some of the world’s engineering marvels. 
• Students can engage in engineering design activities that reinforce the engineering design process.

Schools can invite their military engineer partners to speak to students about engineering careers and to conduct engineering activities in the classroom