THE SCIENCE AND MATH INVESTIGATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES (SMILE) PROGRAM AT OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY IS A SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP THAT HAS SERVED TEACHERS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS. IN COLLABORATION WITH SCIENTISTS AND RESEARCHERS, WE DEVELOP CURRICULUM AND ACTIVITIES TO TRANSLATE CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH THAT IS ACCESSIBLE FOR K-12 TEACHERS AND YOUTH. THIS TYPE OF WORK IS SIGNIFICANT TO THE MISSION OF A LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITY THROUGH PROVIDING QUALITY OUTREACH AND BRINGING THE WORK OF THE UNIVERSITY ALL ACROSS THE STATE. THE PD-STEP GRANT ALLOWS US TO PARTNER WITH OREGON AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM (OAITC) TO CONTINUE THIS EFFORT AND TO DELIVER AGRICULTURALLY RELATED ACTIVITIES THAT ADDRESS NIFA PRIORITIES AND HELP INCREASE AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND AGRICULTURAL CAREERS.THE SMILE PROGRAM PROVIDES LONG-TERM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR RURAL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS TEACHERS THAT THEY WOULD NOT NECESSARILY HAVE ACCESS TO WITHOUT THIS PARTNERSHIP. OFTEN THESE TEACHERS ARE THE ONLY SCIENCE OR MATHEMATICS TEACHERS IN THE BUILDING. OUR PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES THEM WITH A NETWORK OF TEACHERS WHO WORK IN A SIMILAR CONTEXT AND PROVIDES ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEM TO SHARE NEW IDEAS AND KNOWLEDGE WITH THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.THROUGH FUNDING AND SUPPORT FROM THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, SMILE HAS ADOPTED THE YOUTH PROGRAM QUALITY ASSESSMENT TOOL DESIGNED BY THE CENTER FOR YOUTH PROGRAM QUALITY THAT HELPS US MORE PURPOSEFULLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESSES PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. DATA IS COLLECTED BY TEACHERS AND PROGRAM STAFF ON SPECIFIC GOALS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BY TEACHERS AND SMILE STAFF. WE COLLECT DATA MONTHLY FROM THE SMILE TEACHERS THROUGH THEIR REPORTING LOGS AND TWICE A YEAR AT TEACHER WORKSHOPS. THIS DATA IS ANNUALLY ANALYZED, SHARED WITH PARTNERS AND USE FOR CONTINUAL PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT.THE IMPACT OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF TEACHERS WHO HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDINGOF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND AGRICULTURAL CAREERS THAT THEY CAN SHARE WITH THEIR CURRENT AND FUTURE STUDENTS. ADDITIONALLY, THE PROGRAM SERVES STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM CAREERS SUCH AS THOSE FROM LOW SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS, FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS AND CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS.