Three area teachers join 95 teachers for the 2026 Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program, which places educators inside Iowa businesses to bring real-world experience back to the classrooms. Since its launch in 2009, the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council at the Iowa Department of Education has facilitated more than 1,000 teacher externships in a variety of industries throughout the state. Angie Dudley, a first-grade teacher at GMG Elementary School in Green Mountain, is working at Marshall County Conservation, assisting the naturalist. She also creates reference documents for the Naturalist to collaborate with school districts and teachers in the future. The Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program creates meaningful, two-way partnerships between educators and local workplaces.