Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network
 WEPAN 2006 National Conference

Plenary Session Speaker: Dr. Yvonne Spicer

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
8 - 9:30 a.m., Grand Ballroom
 
A Regional Approach to Engaging K-12 Students in Engineering

Dr. Yvonne Spicer
Associate Director, Museum of Science’s National Center for Technological Literacy K-12

“I have tried to build bridges over which others can walk,” says Dr. Yvonne Spicer, 43, the new Associate Director of the Museum of Science’s National Center for Technological Literacy K-12. She has been blazing trails for years. “I will use every tool I have to try to reach young people. But you never know what your impact will be.”

 WEPAN 2006 National Conference: Plenary Session Speaker Yvonne Spicer
Spicer was also instrumental from 1999 to 2001 in revising the Science & Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework. As a Statewide Technology/Engineering Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Education, she led the revision process for PreK-12 standards development. She also met Tufts Dean of Engineering Ioannis Miaoulis, then spearheading the introduction of engineering into the Massachusetts curriculum.

Spicer came to the Museum in January 2006 from the Newton Public Schools, where she was Director of Career & Technical Education. Since 2001, she oversaw curriculum development and assessment of Chapter 74 vocational programs, Technology/Engineering and Family & Consumer Sciences. As the Museum’s Associate Director of NCTL K-12, Spicer will oversee the development, implementation and evaluation of the Museum’s formal engineering/ technology education initiatives. These include K-12 curricula such as the Engineering is Elementary and Engineering the Future courses and professional development programs like the Gateway to Technology and Engineering Education. She will also work with state leaders in education, industry, government and policy-making across the country to help them integrate technology and engineering into their curricula.