STEMvisions Blog

Education
17
Sep

July & August in Review

By Johnny McInerney

Sustainability Education at the Smithsonian National Education Summit! Dr. Carol O’Donnell, along with her collaborators Frank Niepold (NOAA) and Anita Krishnamurthi (Afterschool Alliance) held a session during the Smithsonian National Education Summit titled Educating for Sustainable Development: Teachers’ Perspectives. Participants learned about the results from the Smithsonian-Gallup global survey of K-12 teachers on educating youth for sustainable development; received information about the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals free community research guides for youth and the Climate Literacy Guide from NOAA; and, they received resources from the Afterschool Alliance—all with the goal of helping youth think globally but act locally. The session had 658 registrants and 181 educators participated

in the session live. The session can be viewed asynchronously here:

https://youtu.be/XD2PGMqFEM0?si=ZfJsAJXEW_WNhIFG

Carol O’Donnell Presents on a zoom screen during her Panel for the Smithsonian National Education Summit

Stronger Together – Under Secretary of Education Dr. Monique Chism and Dr. Carol O’Donnell attended a State Department event at the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) called "The U.S. - Ukraine Partnership in Education: Stronger Together.” The well-attended NATO side event featured First Lady of Ukraine Mrs. Olena Zelenska (shown below), and her remarks touched on the salience of education in a country at war. Zelenska also stressed the importance of the

United States alliance with Ukraine. After the event, Dr. O’Donnell met with Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine to further discuss the ongoing collaboration between the Ministry and the Smithsonian Science Education Center, who, together with IREX, are working to reach 1.4 million students to educate them on science using the “Smithsonian Science for the Classroom” K-5 curriculum.

An image of First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska

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About the Author

Johnny McInerney
Executive Assistant

Johnny McInerney is the Executive Office Manager for the Smithsonian Science Education Center. Johnny was born and raised in Golden, Colorado – right where Denver hits the Rockies. He attended the University of Colorado at Boulder (sko’ Buffs!) graduating Summa Cum Laude in Political Science with a minor in Sociology. In 2018, he jumped onto the re-election campaign on Congressman Ed Perlmutter of Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, and after a successful campaign was fortunate to have Rep. Perlmutter offer him the Staff Assistant position in his legislative office on Capitol Hill here in Washington, DC. After two and a half years Johnny transitioned roles to become the Scheduler for Congressman Donald Norcross of Southern New Jersey. While on the Hill, Johnny was elected to a board membership of the LGBT Congressional Staff Association as the 2021 Director of Community Service and Engagement. After he departed the Hill, Johnny worked for a think tank downtown for just under a year before he found himself lucky enough to take this incredible opportunity with the Smithsonian. 

Johnny is passionate about a lot of things: food, film, roller coasters, oil painting, video games, pets, and people…just to name a few!