2019 Recognition Program Winners
WNY STEM Advocate Award – Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul
First Pathway STEM School District – Salamanca City School District
First Quality Partner School District – Depew Union Free School District
Girls Living STEM International Award – Chloe Tullius, Sweet Home High School
Dr. Rod Doran STEM Educator Award – Caitlin Bowen, Wellsville Central School District / Larry Hiller, Nichols School / Sandra George, Frontier Central School District – Honorable Mentions: Renee Sossong-Brady, Erie #1 BOCES; Anthony Fountain, Wellsville Central School District; Kimberly Honeck, Tonawanda City School District; Joshua Koester, Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo; Lisa Wood, The Park School
School Libraries Moving STEM – Iroquois Middle School, Maria Muhlbauer / Roy B. Kelley, Anna Merritt (Lockport), Rachel O’Sheehan – Honorable Mention: Salamanca High School
Emerging STEM School Systems – Barker Central School District / Southwestern Central School District
Schools on the Move: Engaged Level – Alden High School / Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet School (Buffalo) / East Aurora Middle School / Marilla Primary (Iroquois) / Prospect Elementary School (Salamanca) / Wellsville Secondary School
Schools on the Move: Accomplished Level – Amherst High School / Harry F. Abate Elementary School (Niagara Falls) / Lockport High School / Salamanca High School / Starpoint Central School District
Congratulations to each person and school – Your hard work is paying off to make STEM a reality in your district!
ABOUT OUR RECOGNITION AWARDS
Every year WNY STEM and our sponsors honor schools and school districts for their achievements in advancing science, technology, engineering, and math in our five-county region with four distinct categories of recognition.
Schools gaining recognition status are feted at the WNY STEM Celebration of STEM Recognition Program.
Emerging STEM School Systems
School systems should demonstrate they are using the resources, developing staff, and establishing programs or identifying priorities for STEM. Systemic commitment to STEM is validated by the school system’s published curriculum and programs; board of education priorities and allocations and/or school site visits by the WNY STEM Board of Directors.
WNY Schools on the Move
The NYS STEM Quality Learning Rubric guides this school-level recognition program which WNY STEM launched in 2015. Recognized schools are validated as they embark on transformation changes in STEM learning. The recognition also encourages sharing and scaling up by example as it identifies individual schools that have demonstrated marked progress across three levels – Emerging, Engaged, and Accomplished – on these components of STEM learning:
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STEM integration;
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Connections to non-STEM disciplines;
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Use of project-based learning;
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Exposure to STEM careers;
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Use of the engineering design process; and
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Technology integration.
Public, private, charter and parochial schools are eligible to apply for the Annual STEM Recognition Program. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that the school has moved beyond an emerging level across most NYS STEM Quality Learning components. Schools within a current WNY Emerging STEM School System are automatically eligible: those school systems will be invited to submit an application.
STEM Recognition Award Recipients