Diana Muench, Harding Township School, gets AFA Teacher of the Year

Mrs. Diana Muench, STEM Teacher, Harding Township School, New Vernon, NJ, from Berkeley Heights, NJ, was recently presented with an Air and Space Forces Association(AFA) Chapter 195 Teacher of the Year Award. The award includes $250 and a complimentary Civil Air Patrol(CAP) Aerospace Education Membership(AEM) which includes a free CAP Cessna orientation flight. See: Link

Over the past four years, she has developed the STEM curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) at Harding and, with her enthusiasm and dedication, was able to excite students from Kindergarten through Middle School to participate and explore the principles of STEM as they apply to the real world. Her K-8 STEM Curriculum has been recognized by the administration and Board of Education as exemplary in content, standards alignment, and critical thinking. Further, Mrs. Muench has coordinated multiple STEM events for staff and families for their participation as well.

Mrs. Muench works with her K-8 students on a variety of hands-on projects including building CO2 cars, rocket launches, shadow boxes, skyscraper design, lessons on coding with Beebots, isometric sketching, bridge challenges, crash egg cars, circuitry, creating flashlights, and hydroponics and urban farming. These cross curricular units emphasize computer science skills, design, and often use equipment such as the Glowforge Laser Engraver, 3-D printers, and wood working tools. These activities help students ask questions and define problems, plan and carry out investigations, analyze and interpret data, and develop and use models. To view her talk to the AFA about her STEM program, see: Link

The Air and Space Forces Association(AFA) educates the public on the critical role of aerospace power in our nation’s defense and supports the US Air and Space Forces, the Civil Air Patrol, and many STEM programs. For more about AFA STEM programs, see: https://www.afa.org/aerospace-stem-education

The Shooting Star Chapter 195 of the Air and Space Forces Association(AFA) meets monthly on the last Saturday of each month except during the months of June, July, August, November, and December. For more information see web site at: https://afa195.org/ or contact Bill Fosina, 195 President, at wmfosina@outlook.com, or 908-803-4949.