Robotics coach honored by STEM organization
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Before there was STEM, Kenton Swartley was motivating students through integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
“My first focus on that was long before the term was in use,” noted the Cedar Falls Community Schools’ teacher.
Swartley has been the Cedar Falls High School FIRST Robotics Competition coach for more than two decades — what he calls his first real STEM adventure — and now leads the engineering and robotics strand of the district’s Center for Advanced Professional Studies. He also serves as the community partnerships and STEM facilitator for Cedar Falls Schools.
Recently, Swartley received the 2021 Iowa STEM Teacher Award for the region, which includes a $3,000 cash prize — $1,500 each for personal and classroom use. The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council awards the honor, sponsored by Kemin Industries, to a full-time licensed teacher in its six regions across the state.
“It’s an honor to be recognized, and I appreciate all the people that nominated me,” Swartley said. “It kind of sounds like there was a group effort of people that were connected with robotics.”
A news release from the advisory council said nominations came from Cedar Falls Superintendent Andy Pattee, the University of Northern Iowa, FIRST Robotics Competition Iowa and former students. After his nomination, Swartley applied for the award and was selected by a panel of reviewers.
“Iowa teachers of STEM are really upping their games not only through the pandemic but more broadly embracing a community-connected brand of teaching and learning,” Jeff Weld, the advisory council’s executive director, wrote in a statement. “Kenton Swartley was doing STEM before STEM was cool, so it is particularly gratifying to partner with Kemin Industries to recognize his pioneering efforts, to which we’re all really just catching up!”
Swartley started his career in 1984 as a classroom teacher in San Antonio and then Lancaster, Penn. Pursuit of effectively engaging students in scientific learning first brought him to the Cedar Valley.
In a workshop at a Washington teacher’s conference led by UNI professors, he learned about “everyday practical applications of the physics concepts” through their program. He was subsequently invited to apply to work with the program Physics Resources and Instructional Strategies for Motivating Students, or PRISMS, during the summers of 1988 and 1989.
Swartley and his family moved to Cedar Falls in 1991, where he continued his education at UNI. He began working for the Cedar Falls district in 1996 and taught physics at the high school from 1998 to 2016.
“What drew me to science in
“What drew me to science in general was just an interest in figuring out how things work. And then getting into teaching was being able to help others learn about the world around them ...”
— Kenton Swartley, Cedar Falls High School FIRST Robotics Competition coach
general was just an interest in figuring out how things work,” he said. “And then getting into teaching was being able to help others learn about the world around them and, specifically with physics, how we can use science and math to explain everyday life things.”
His advocacy for the FIRST Robotics Competition led to its eventual inclusion in the advisory council’s STEM Scale-Up Program and 50% growth of teams across the state, according to the news release. Swartley also led professional development instruction over three years at UNI for educators who wanted to become robotics coaches.