Last school year Ruth ran K'NEX engineering workshops for over 600 primary six pupils in Caithness and Sutherland. The winning team of the regional Caithness final went on to win the Scottish Final for Junior Engineer for Britain K'Nex Challenge in Dundee in June of this year.
Ruth Falconer said of her experience: "It was a really rewarding and interesting time. Pupils and teachers were enthusiastic about using K'NEX in the classroom for the Curriculum for Excellence. It was fantastic to see a team from Caithness to do so well in the Scottish Final - this is a real boost for the North".
The new programme of K'NEX workshops to be run by Ruth is much larger and will also include Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions for teachers. The first courses will be delivered in Moray primary schools in December.
George MacKenzie, Education Support Officer at Moray Council, said: "We are delighted to have been invited to participate in this project. This is an excellent opportunity for teachers to engage with science and technology Curriculum for Excellence outcomes in a real, relevant and enterprising way."
The STEM Ambassador programme is a UK initiative operated by STEMNET which sees volunteers from STEM backgrounds offer their time to inspire young people through their professional experience. The Ambassadors take part in activities in and outside schools, and they act as role models to encourage pupils to continue with their studies in STEM subjects.
Ruth Falconer grew up locally in Wick and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Sociology from Stirling University. Between August 2003 and April 2007 she spent time in China and Kyrgyzstan, working as English Teacher and writing a travel blog for her local newspaper. Before starting her current work she completed a graduate placement at KP Technology, a Wick based manufacturing and research company.
The STEM North of Scotland Partnership is a grouping of six local authorities, UHI Millennium Institute, the Open University, Skills Development Scotland and HIE which works to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The group's aim is to ensure young people know more about the importance of STEM subjects in the world around them. In particular in energy, ICT, life sciences, finance and business and food and drink - key employment sectors in the North of Scotland.
K'NEX workshops are recognised as a way of integrating engineering and technology into lessons according to the requirements of the Curriculum for Excellence. In a second strand of her work, Ruth will support the recruitment of more STEM Ambassadors in Orkney and Shetland to join the existing 180 STEM Ambassadors across the region.