Chatham Design & Technology Department Wins Statewide Award

CHATHAM, NJ - The New Jersey Technology and Engineering Educators Association (NJTEEA) has named the School District of the Chathams’ K-12 Design & Technology (STEM) Department as a Program Excellence Award winner.

According to officials, this award "recognizes outstanding programs, teachers and administrators in the field of TED (Technology, Engineering & Design) Education. Excellence Award recipients “apply most relevant technological tools, meaningful instruction (or supervision) with regard to 21st Century Skills… [and] are leaders in the field, setting an example for future educators of technology," officials said.

The School District of the Chathams’ Design & Technology Department is one of the only comprehensive K-12 STEM programs in the state of New Jersey providing weekly STEM instruction starting in Kindergarten, and building up to advanced courses in computer science, creativity and innovation, as well as in 3D engineering design at the middle school and high school levels. The program design ensures that all students are granted access to integrative-STEM education from an early age, engaging them in authentic problem solving, collaboration, innovation, and critical thinking, while developing creativity and perseverance.

As a result, female enrollment has grown, with some specific courses and sub-programs reaching higher than a 50 percent male/50 percent female enrollment. The program also has a higher than school average enrollment of special education students, organizers say this shows the District’s commitment to “STEM for all.”

The program and various courses emphasize process over product, Design Thinking and the Engineering Design Process as foundational underpinnings. The program has served as a site visit location for close to 40 school districts looking to start a STEM program and has also been highlighted nationally for their high school FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics program and Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles female enrollment. The District, and more specifically the K-8 Design & Technology program, has also been selected to spearhead and participate in a STEM school partnership with elementary and middle schools in Wenzhou, China through the Kean University Sister School Cooperation Program that will kicked off on June 1.

Officials said the program has a top-notch teaching staff spanning grades K-12 who are all trained in integrative-STEM education and/or have their Technology Education teaching certificate, and is supervised by a former integrative-STEM educator, Danielle Dagounis.

The award ceremony is took place on Friday at Charlie Brown's Fresh Grill in Chatham.

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