Storm Lake early learners get STEM boost through state grant

Storm Lake preschoolers are about to get more than a new box of materials. A state STEM grant will bring STEMwonder to the Storm Lake Early Childhood Center, giving the district a way to add hands-on science, technology, engineering and math activities for its youngest learners while also training educators to use them well.

The Storm Lake Community School District was selected through the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council’s Scale-Up Program, a competitive process that drew applicants from school districts, libraries, museums and other organizations across the Northwest STEM Region. The award will fund implementation of STEMwonder, a PK-3 program from the Iowa Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa that pairs play-based STEM with literacy experiences.

For children in the preschool program, that means more structured chances to sort, build, test and talk through problems in ways that fit their age. The program is designed around carefully curated kits, and its approach is meant to connect early science and engineering concepts with reading and language tools instead of treating STEM as a separate subject. The district’s Early Childhood Center already uses the Creative Curriculum and emphasizes literacy, math, science and discovery, fine and large motor skills, and social-emotional learning, so the grant extends a program model already built on hands-on learning.

Assistant Principal Jessica Mathistad said the grant will expand high-quality learning opportunities for the district’s youngest students and help them build early foundational skills. Mathistad has worked in Storm Lake schools since 2012, and she and Principal Heath Stille were promoted from within the district in 2023, giving the center a leadership team that already knows the community and its preschoolers well.

The state investment also carries broader weight. Iowa’s STEM Scale-Up Program has operated since 2012 and is intended to deliver high-quality STEM instruction to PK-12 students, along with training so educators can put the materials to use effectively. The Iowa Department of Education says the program has reached up to 100,000 students each year. In the 2025-26 cycle, more than 500 awards totaled more than $3 million in STEM materials, curriculum and professional development, with awardees taking part in summer training before fall implementation.

That matters in Storm Lake, where the Early Childhood Center says preschool is free for families and is designed to prepare every child for kindergarten. The new STEM award fits that mission by strengthening school readiness before children ever reach the elementary grades. Storm Lake has also built a track record in this area, including a $40,000 STEM BEST award for Storm Lake Early Elementary School in 2022, a sign that the district has been steadily adding STEM experiences across the early grades.