In honor of STEM Appreciation week, Teach NJ Field Director Maya Joyandeh visited several partner schools to hand out gifts and treats to the public school teachers participating in the NJ DOE STEM Program. The STEM Program, imagined by Teach NJ and sponsored by Senators Paul Sarlo and Vin Gopal in the New Jersey Senate and Assembly Members Joann Downey, Eric Houghtaling and Gary Schaer in the New Jersey Assembly, offers the opportunity for public school STEM teachers to come to nonpublic schools and provide STEM education outside of their regular schedule, at no cost to the nonpublic schools.

Margaret Nastasi, Yeshivat Noam’s STEM educator and a computer science teacher in the Rutherford School District said, “I am so impressed with the work that [the students] can do. Their creativity, their designs, their enthusiasm, their dedication … it’s all just amazing, and I am very proud of them.”

Rabbi Daniel Alter, head of school at The Moriah School said, “The Teach NJ Stem Program is a win-win-win. It is a win for the students in our schools who are being taught by talented public school teachers. It is a win for public school teachers who have the opportunity to supplement their salary. And it is a win for the State of New Jersey as we prepare the next generation to be competitive in STEM-related jobs and disciplines.”

Some of the schools participating in the NJ STEM program include The Frisch School, Yeshivat Noam, Ben Porat Yosef, Heichal HaTorah, RKYHS, JKHA, Ma’ayanot, RPRY, Yeshivat He’Atid, TABC, The Moriah School, Lubavitch on the Palisades and Yeshivat Netivot Montessori. At each school, students proudly showed off their STEM projects and shared stories about all that they are learning in their various science, engineering and robotics classes. Applications are out now for the 2023 STEM program and are due on March 31.

To learn more about how to bring New Jersey public school STEM teachers to your child’s school, visit https://teachcoalition.org/stemnj/

By Jewish Link Staff