Meet the Educators Behind Dakota STEAM Learning
The STEAM Team
Hey! We are Dakota STEAM Learning. Jamie Bennett and Deanna Vallone are teacher-turned-entrepreneurs who combine their classroom experience with a practical, energetic approach to STEAM education. Our work centers on making learning active, accessible, and memorable-encouraging children to experiment, build, design, problem-solve, and discover through hands-on experiences rather than passive instruction.
Together, we bring Dakota STEAM Learning’s programs beyond a single location by offering STEAM classes and events for schools, homeschoolers, nonprofits, and other groups across South Dakota. Our mission is rooted in helping young people develop curiosity and confidence while showing that science, technology, engineering, art, and math can be fun, creative, and relevant to everyday life.
Our STEAM Philosophy
STEAM education has a profound impact on children, shaping them not only as learners but as confident, capable individuals. Through hands-on STEAM experiences, kids develop self-esteem, self-image, and self-worth as they discover the vast possibilities of learning. They adopt a growth mindset that empowers them to tackle challenging problems and accomplish tasks they never imagined possible. STEAM nurtures critical problem-solving skills by encouraging constant reflection and adjustment, guiding students to develop action plans and solutions. These abilities extend far beyond the classroom, influencing every aspect of their lives. When embraced from a young age, these skills prepare children to become unstoppable forces who are ready to thrive in any future circumstance.
Our Approach to STEAM Learning
Most STEAM activities give students step-by-step instructions and a guaranteed outcome. That is not how we design our programs. Every Dakota STEAM Learning challenge presents students with an open-ended problem – one with multiple possible solutions, not one right answer. Students design, build, test, and try again. The iterative process is where the learning happens, and it is the part that transfers to every future challenge a student will face.
This approach comes directly from our classroom experience. We know that a K-5 student who has never been asked to engineer something from scratch will struggle at first – and that the struggle is valuable. We also know that a teacher who only has 30 minutes during specials does not have time for a STEAM activity that requires three days of prep. Everything we build is designed for that teacher: ready to use, genuinely engaging, and easy to adapt to your schedule, regardless of what it is.
Our Story — Dakota STEAM Learning
After COVID, we saw a huge shift in education where computers were brought in, e-learning began, and kids’ creativity disappeared. Dakota STEAM Learning started in 2022 with one simple belief: every student deserves opportunities to explore, create, problem-solve, and discover what they’re capable of through hands-on learning. We wanted to create a place for the kids in our community where they could be a kid again and explore learning through STEAM/STEM.
Dakota STEAM began when we rented a classroom at a church in our community to bring STEAM experiences to homeschool families, afterschool programs, and events. We brought STEAM anywhere we could! We began hosting STEAM events at breweries, special events, and even created take-home kits! Then we started with one public school, where we packed up our STEAM materials and ideas to educate K-5 elementary students for 2.5 hours while their teachers received planning time! For 2.5 hours, students would complete one STEAM engineering challenge and one STEAMified Art challenge. Teachers loved this because it required no prep/no substitute notes, and they got more planning time! Now we pack up and travel to 4 local elementary schools each week, teaching about 1500 students each month.
Then we pack up in the summer to travel to other towns to bring STEAM to their communities. We even pack up our materials for Family Engagement Events, PTA Fundraisers, and host our own summer camps. We truly believe in STEAM Anywhere! What we have noticed working with about 2000-2500 different students throughout the year is that kids LOVE hands-on learning, and they all NEED it! After 4 years of testing our STEAM program, our goal is for other educators and students to find the same success as us, so we began creating a STEAM program from the ground up with our own little twist added to STEM/STEAM.
“Initially, I found professional development meetings on STEAM overwhelming. The instructors presented it as an effortless addition to the classroom, but I often faced challenges in integrating it into my curriculum. It felt like I was trying to fit it in randomly. However, partnering with Deanna has been a game-changer! Together, we’ve worked to make STEAM more accessible for kids in our community, and it’s truly inspiring to see how this collaboration has empowered educators to embrace it more confidently. Exciting times lie ahead for all of us!
Meet Jamie Bennett
Hi, I’m Jamie Bennett! I’m one of the owners of Dakota STEAM Learning LLC. We turned our passion for education into a business in 2022! At Dakota STEAM Learning, I manage our STEAM Specialist Team, STEAM Products, the Accountant, and the Head of our Social Media and Email Marketing team, and so much more. I tell people all the time, “Deanna creates the product, and I help manage it!” STEAM wasn’t always in my background. People told me to plug it into my classroom like it was easy, but I struggled without training or even a basic lesson plan or formula to follow. I connected with Deanna when we went out to dinner with our firefighter husbands, who knew each other from work. It was a match! We instantly brainstormed better ways to approach education and were brave enough to take the leap together to create a STEAM business! Dakota STEAM Learning was born!
Outside of my work with Dakota STEAM Learning, I’m also a wife and a proud mother. I have two wonderful daughters in elementary school! Our family loves spending time together biking, hiking, and snowboarding or skiing. We have a small hill in South Dakota where we enjoy skiing, and being outdoors is always a blast for us! I grew up in a small town with just 1,000 people, where my family farmed and ranched. I even rodeoed until my senior year of high school. Most of my family, including my parents and two sisters, still live nearby. I have three sisters—two here in Rapid City and one in Chicago. Having family close by has been a real help; my oldest sister takes care of all our professional photos for the website, and my younger sister designed our logo and fox mascot and continues to assist with our custom artwork. Dakota STEAM Learning is built around Jamie and Deanna, but our families are always there in the background, cheering us on and supporting us in any way they can.
Jamie Bennett’s background & credentials
Education, classroom experience, and specialized training.
Education & credentials
- Bachelor of Science in Education at Black Hills State University – Elementary Education Major, Secondary (endorsement), and Special Education Major
- Master's Degree from Concordia University in Curriculum & Instruction, specialized in Mathematics
Teaching experience
- 7 Years Elementary 5th Grade Teacher
- 3 Years 7th Grade Middle School Math Teacher
- 2 Years College Math Methods Adjunct Professor for Black Hills State University
- SD Mentorship Program – mentoring 1st-year teachers
- Leadership Committees
- Currently a business owner, Cofounder of Dakota STEAM, and STEAM Specialist
Specialized training
- PBIS
- PLC
- Conscious Discipline
- Data-Driven Strategic Planning
- STEM Training, Committees & Implementation
- Robotics Training and Implementation
Meet Deanna Vallone
Hey, I’m Deanna Vallone, one of the owners of Dakota STEAM Learning. In 2015, my family moved cross-country for my husband's job, and I became a 21st-century K-5 specials teacher. It was a fun new challenge, and within just a few months, I knew STEAM was the way to help my students become true 21st-century learners. For the next five years, I poured my heart into building our STEAM program and content from the ground up. When it was time for another life transition, I knew it had to be STEAM-related. There was so much more I wanted to explore. I wanted to reach more students and help teachers deliver the very best of STEAM in their classrooms and communities.
That led me to partner with Jamie, and now I get to help others teach STEAM anywhere, which is my greatest professional passion. I write every single lesson we create and personally teach it multiple times before it is ever available to others. I always want our product to be of the highest caliber, and our 1,500 students per month really help me get a lot of feedback before any lesson is posted. I love coming up with innovative new STEAM challenges that challenge kids to become creators.
When I am not writing or teaching STEAM, you can find me hanging with my family. My husband and I have three kids that keep us very busy, and we love living a very active lifestyle. If we aren’t at a recital or game, we’re probably hiking in the Black Hills or planning our next National Park Adventure. In my very rare downtime, I love to read, play pickleball, and host game nights with our family and friends. I feel very blessed to love what I do and spend most of my time with all my favorite people, Jamie included!
“For me, STEAM is all about helping kids become empowered and capable of thriving in any environment. We don’t know what the world will look like in the future, but if our kids can be creative, think critically, communicate effectively, and collaborate with others, then I know they can be successful. STEAM is a magical combination of innovation, decision-making, and a growth mindset that is so important for our future.”
Deanna Vallone’s background & credentials
Education, classroom experience, and specialized training.
Education & credentials
- Bachelor of Arts- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Majors: History/Cultural Anthropology
- Minor: Education
- CA and SD K-8 self-contained classroom teaching credentials.
Teaching experience
- 5th grade teacher- California- 4 years. Grade level chair and student success team member.
- Special roles: AVID Leader, student council co-facilitator, Spelling Bee curator, and Science Fair co-chair.
- K-5 21st Century Learning Strategies/STEAM-South Dakota- 5 years
- 2020-2021 Teacher of the Year, Knollwood Elementary
- Special role: Leadership team, Conscious Discipline Mentor teacher, student council facilitator, STEAM club leader.
- Co-Founded Dakota STEAM Learning in 2022.
Specialized training
- Trauma-aware teaching practices
- Project-Based Learning
- Coding Integration
- Innovative Science Teaching
- PBIS
- AVID Strategies
- Conscious Discipline — Mentor Teacher
- Kagan Engagement Strategies
- English Language Learner Resources
- Data-Driven Strategic Planning
Meet Scout, our STEAM mascot
Meet Scout, our friendly STEAM Mascot! Instead of being created by AI, Scout was thoughtfully designed by Jamie’s talented sister, Charley, who also crafted our logo. Scout is a unique guide, helping to lead students on their exciting STEAM adventure. You'll see Scout pop up across our Canva slides, highlighting important points along the way. Scout loves sharing our program’s mission: inspiring students to embrace creative innovation and think flexibly. With a curious nature, adaptability, and clever problem-solving skills, Scout is passionate about supporting and inspiring every student’s journey in STEAM.
What We Offer
Deanna and Jamie’s classroom experience is built into everything Dakota STEAM Learning makes. Browse our digital lesson library, shop our STEAM Kits, or learn about our in-person schoolwide programs for South Dakota K-5 schools.
