Council’s assessment of STEM’s effectiveness anticipated

This week the Delaware STEM Council will release its first report on how effectively science, technology, engineering and math are being taught in our schools. The council, established last year by Gov. Jack Markell, consists of appointed members from every corner of Delaware — educators, administrators, business leaders, government officials and students.

Council members, all unpaid volunteers, were selected by the governor because they are leaders in STEM education. That means they would be very busy people even without their council activities, and the many extra hours they devote to council work often creates real personal hardships. I am very proud to have worked with them and list them here so that other Delawareans can appreciate the quality of the people who wrote this report. Space limitations don’t allow me to even begin to describe all of their achievements. The members:

» Theresa Angelus is teaching an exploratory STEM program, Gateway to Technology, from Project Lead the Way at MOT Charter School.

» Dr. Ross Armbrecht is the executive director of the Delaware Foundation for Science and Mathematics Education.

» Dr. Susan Bunting is the superintendent of the Indian River School District.

» Dave Cadogan is the engineering manager at ILC in Dover and associate fellow with the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics.

» Andrea Connally is a special-education teacher and science department chair at Alfred G. Waters Middle School in the Appoquinimink School District.

» Dan Cruce is the Delaware Department of Education’s deputy secretary and chief of staff, and he chairs the department’s Directors Council and Charter School Accountability Committee.

» Sharon Densler is the K-12 science specialist in the Capital School District

» Kristin Giffin is director of quality for Agilent Technologies, and she is responsible for quality and product compliance for the chemical analysis business.

» Pratyusha Gupta is a senior at Caesar Rodney High School and national president of the Technology Student Association.

» Dr. Randy Guschl is director of the Center for Collaborative Research and Education at the DuPont Co.

» Dr. Doug Hicks is department chair for engineering technologies at Delaware Technical Community College — Owens campus.

» Donna Johnson is executive director of the Delaware State Board of Education

» Theresa Kough is director for the Title 1 and career technical resources within the College and Workforce Readiness Branch of the Delaware Department of Education.

» Dr. Michelle Kutch is supervisor of curriculum and instruction for the Brandywine School District.

» Dr. Noureddine Melikechi is a professor of physics at Delaware State University.

» Dr. Annie Norman is the Delaware state librarian, director of the Delaware Division of Libraries and recipient of the Audrey K. Doberstein Award for Leadership.

» Renee Parsley is the math content specialist at Sussex Technical High School.

» Cheryl Potocki teaches at the Charter School of Wilmington, where she won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching and the USA All American Teaching Team Award.

» George Reissig is the founder, president and CEO of Pixstar Inc., an IT consulting firm in Lewes that provides services to both government and commercial clients.

» Diana Roscoe is the K-12 math specialist for Southern Delaware Professional Development Center.

» Dr. Kathryn Scantlebury is a professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Delaware, director of secondary education, and coordinator for secondary science education in the College of Arts and Sciences.

» James H. Sills III is the secretary and chief information officer for the Delaware Department of Technology and Information.

» John Singer is a STEM technology instructor and department chair in the Brandywine School District, and recipient of the Delaware Technology Education Teacher of the Year and Technology Education Program of the year awards.

» Steven Vanderloo is a senior at Concord High School and reporter and former president of Delaware Technology Student Association.

» Marian Wolak is director of curriculum, instruction and professional development for DOE and has won the National Distinguished Elementary Principal for Delaware and the Paul Carlson Leadership Award from Delaware’s Principal’s Academy.

» Dr. Deborah Zych is superintendent of Delaware’s Polytech School District.

» Jud Wagner is my co-chair of the council and is the STEM program manager for the Brandywine School District. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

The report will be released Tuesday on http://stem.delaware.gov.

Originally published 1 Apr 2012 on delawareonline.com