Silver Spring Teacher Participates in Research Fellowship

Montgomery Blair High School teacher Megan Hart participated in the “Siemens Teachers as Researchers” fellowship program this summer.

The STARs program selects 40 teachers from across the country to learn about tools that will help their students gain a more practical understanding for the use of science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts in their daily lives.

As part of the program, Hart worked on a research project with scientists and educators in Oak Ridge, Tenn., where she examined how to improve the performance of lithium ion batteries.

“The STARs program has inspired me to improve how my students and I connect our work in the classroom with research in the field,” Hart said. “I am going to use what I learned during my research experience and work with my students to develop a lesson on building simple batteries that we can share with middle school students at a STEM conference.”

The STARs program is a part of the Siemens STEM Academy, an online professional development community for STEM educators.

“We are honored to host such inspiring teachers like Megan and hope she and her colleagues walk away from this experience with new ideas for their classrooms and exciting insights into STEM education that will impact a future generation of young professionals,” said David Etzwiler, CEO of the Siemens Foundation.

Hart participated in seminars and received a grant to purchase equipment and supplies for her classroom through the program, which aims to encourage students to pursue opportunities in the STEM field.

“I’m also going to encourage my students to participate in more research experiences to broaden their awareness and knowledge of ongoing scientific research,” Hart said.

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