The Inaugural STEM Fellows Cohort

As educators, we strive to provide meaningful and innovative experiences for our students so that they have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to be successful when they graduate from CESJDS. One of the challenges we face in education is that the world we live in today is dramatically different than the one we ourselves grew up in. To best meet the needs of our students, we attend conferences and various professional development opportunities, collaborate with colleagues in different disciplines, and stay up-to-date on the newest teaching research, tools, and strategies. However, that’s not enough. In order to provide our students with meaningful and relevant experiences, we need their insight and feedback. We need to put students at the forefront of our initiatives and give them a role in informing the decisions we make as a school.

This is the driving force behind our new initiative: the Center for STEM in Jewish Education (CSJE) Fellows Program.  Through this program, high school students who are passionate about STEM grow as leaders and mentors, while also having different opportunities to interact with STEM professionals and to attend various STEM events. Our Fellows embrace the mission of the STEM Center to support and bring STEM education to various Jewish learning environments. We want our students to be at the heart of this mission because they bring the invaluable perspective of what it is like to be a learner in this generation.

This year, I have the privilege of working with our very first cohort of STEM Fellows. After reviewing 30 anonymous applications, a committee of five administers selected the following eleven high school students.

·       Rachel Dori- Grade 11

·       Leah Falk- Grade 11

·       Jessica Gallo- Grade 11

·       Nathan Gershengorn- Grade 11

·       Evan Gerstenblith- Grade 10

·       Oren Minsk- Grade 12

·       Ariana Ravitz- Grade 11

·       Adina Schwartz- Grade 11

·       Elliot Sher- Grade 11

·       Daniel Simon- Grade 9

·       Gabriella Simon- Grade 9

As part of this program, STEM Fellows propose, plan, and co-host events that enrich, embrace, and foster STEM teaching and learning. When planning these events, we focus on providing opportunities that emphasize the practical uses of STEM in the real world while giving students the chance to develop and apply a wide range of STEM skills. These skills include problem solving, design thinking, critical thinking, data analysis, and collaboration, and they are developed over time and with practice. It is therefore important that students have opportunities to use these skills as often as possible and beyond their regular classes. Below are the different projects we are currently working on to engage our own students as well as students around the DMV in STEM education.

TEDxYouth@CESJDS- Sunday, January 24, 2021

• We will be hosting CESJDS' very first TEDxYouth Conference. A TEDx event is a gathering of TED-like talks and performances that is planned independently from TED. Specficailly, youth events are designed and organized by young individuals.  The theme of our conference will be "Resilience." We will be joined by speakers of various ages and from various areas of expertise. We are working on securing those speakers from all over the DMV area.

High School Physics Workshop- Wednesday, December 9, 2020

• This workshop will allow students to hear from a STEM professional who regularly uses physics and will be discussing with us real world applications of physics. Students will then have the opportunity to apply what they learn in an at-home experiment or a design-based challenge.

High School Biology Workshop- We are in the beginning stages of planning for this workshop which will be held in the second semester. 

Math Tutoring Partnership with the Lower School

• Twice a week, beginning soon, high school students will provide math tutoring and enrichment opportunities for our Lower School students.

STEM Clubs for Lower School Students

• Throughout the school year, we will be offering various STEM clubs for our Lower School students that are planned and facilitated by some of our STEM Fellows. These clubs include:
  • 3D Printing and Design
  • CoderKids
  • LEGO Robotics
  • Video Making Class

Middle School Virtual STEM Series

• The second Sunday of each month this school year (with the exception of October), we will be hosting a virtual MS STEM event to provide students with the opportunity to apply the Engineering Design Process and various STEM skills. These events are open to 5^th-8^th graders, and students do not have to be a JDS student to participate. More information and registration links can be found on the STEM Center webpage: https://www.cesjds.org/academics/stem/csje

STEM Outreach Partnership with the Shriver School

• We will be collaborating with the Sargent Shriver Elementary School in Silver Spring to plan and implement STEM opportunities for their students.

Another component of our STEM Fellows program is professional development. We model to our Fellows that educators are lifelong learners and that it is essential for us to keep up with the changes in curriculum, pedagogy and teaching techniques. Due to COVID-19, professional development looks different than we intended, but we will continue to do the best that we can to offer our fellows engaging, fun, and meaningful opportunities. This includes our virtual field trip with iFLY Rockville during which STEM Fellows will learn about the physics of flying and apply engineering principles to analyze the different factors that affect flight. Each student will receive two flight vouchers that they can redeem at iFly for an indoor skydiving experience so that they can explore the physics of flying for themselves. We will also be doing a virtual lab visit of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at UC Berkeley later this year, along with other virtual events and workshops throughout the school year.

It is undeniable that the pandemic has made many aspects of teaching and learning more challenging, but one thing I have learned from our STEM Fellows is that it does not have put a stop to everything. Now more than ever, we need to channel our creativity and innovation to get the most out of virtual learning. It has truly been a rewarding experience working with the STEM Fellows thus far, and I look forward to the program growing in years to come. Applications for next school year’s cohort of STEM Fellows will open in May 2021.