Dr. Gifty Asamani is always looking for opportunities to elevate her students’ STEM experiences and interactions with hands-on learning and exposure to real science. In the two short years she has been on staff, she has already built affiliations with Harlem DNA Lab, CUNY Advanced Research Center, NYC H20, BioBase, STEMMattersNYC, NSBE, and Rockefeller University to help students immerse themselves in STEM/STEAM activities that are not available at the school. She also reinvigorated a fireside speaker series where students get to hear from professionals in STEAM careers including scientists, journalists, and artists. She likes to incorporate the arts into the sciences. For example, she asks students to write a rap about the functions of cells. Her students have also presented group science projects where they wrote and performed poems to jazz and country music.

She credits her teaching style to being a constant learner, including learning from her students and participating in learning opportunities, including traveling to the Berlin Biennale and Documenta (in Kassel) as an Astor Fellow to study contemporary arts and its role in education. Recently, she also traveled with a group of New York City teachers to Gambia as an official guest of the President and Educational Commissioner of the country to establish the “Teacher of the Year” award to celebrate outstanding teachers.

Staci Balice is an elementary school Library/Media teacher.  During the COVID lockdown the library at her school was turned into storage space. When the school was ready to reopen , they asked Staci to transform it into a library and media center. Despite her lack of tech experience and that there were no computers or technology of any kind in the space, Staci jumped at the chance and committed quickly to making the library/media space accessible and engaging for all students.  She integrates STREAM (Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) enrichment into her curriculum. Now, students read hard copy books and create related digital media projects to advance their digital literacy. Staci has transformed the library curriculum to include media education and has been working to build out a STREAMing space set to debut in the fall.

Staci has advanced digital literacy—and students’ tech experiences—by forging partnerships, including with LEGO Education, with the goal of incorporating hands-on, playful learning centers in standards-aligned lessons in science, engineering, and technology. She founded her school's Girls Who Code chapter, which helps address girls’ low STEM participation.  Just two years after founding the 20-member chapter, her students earned first place as the sole all-female team at the Battle of the Boroughs Minecraft Challenge.

Emilie Jones is an 8th grade ELA teacher whose driving force is making sure students see themselves in the classroom.  That has led her to create the student-led passion project that started with a simple question to students: “If you could learn anything in school, what would it be?” That question led to a two-month curriculum where students picked a research topic, built a website, created their own research project schedule and benchmarks, shared their passions with their parents, peers, and teachers, and reflected on their learning. She also runs a student advisory group, amplifies student voice in the classroom through student driven podcasts and digital portfolios, and encourages students to become change-makers in their communities. Passionate about diversity and inclusion, Emilie is a tireless advocate for LGBTQ+ representation and acceptance. From writing LGBTQ+ curriculum for the DOE to spearheading initiatives like the LAMBDA Literary Program and the Pride Club, she creates safe and affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ youth. She also serves on the Instructional Leadership Team, the Principal's Planning Team, and the International Baccalaureate Committee, shaping the school's academic direction and fostering a globally minded educational environment. Additionally, Emilie is the director of the popular drama department, which counts a third of students in the school as participants.

Despite his background in special education and English, Aaron Lober seized the opportunity to become a middle school STEM educator, learning various coding languages and pursing a second master’s degree in CS education. He has spearheaded the establishment of the STEM department at his school and works with Exploring Equity in Computer Science to craft STEM curriculum for the district. Aaron prioritizes student-centered education, Social-Emotional Learning and experiential learning, demonstrated through initiatives like creating a hydroponic farm in his classroom to educate students on food scarcity and sustainable farming practices.

Beyond the classroom, Aaron organizes and sustains various in-school clubs and summer programs including the Halsey Robotics Team and App-making Program, including one with NASA. Furthermore, he advocates for STEM integration across disciplines, and is currently working on a proposal to the DOE for the inclusion of a mandatory STEM course for subject teachers. Realizing that many of his students couldn’t afford summer camps or wouldn’t get into the DOE’s random lottery summer program, Aaron started a free summer program where he teaches various STEM related courses on his school’s campus.

Alicia Marcinkowski is an ENL (English as New Language)/Art teacher at an elementary school. During the pandemic, she started teaching ENL through the lens of art history, culminating in a corresponding weekly art project during which students created art in the style of the artist being studied. The program was so successful with the students that post-pandemic, her principal asked her to turn this into a class curriculum. She now has her own classes where she uses her innovative curriculum.  Students say that being in class with Alicia is the best part of their day.  Better yet, students who have stalled in learning English found renewed interest through Alicia’s ENL/Art class. Her ENL program is the only one of its kind, but she would love to expand to other schools.

Outside of the classroom she is involved in several committees at the school including Lead Teacher on the Social Committee, the leader of the Cluster inquiry team and a member of the Instructional Leadership and Equity team. She is a certified mentor to other teachers and students at St. John’s University and Adelphi University. Alicia is a participant in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Professional Learning Community which includes workshops during the summer and on Saturdays. She has organized several field trips for her students there, including a school-wide trip with families for the Lunar New Year Festival.

Kelly Preston teaches social studies at the all-girls middle and high school, Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women. A few years ago, in response to student feedback, she redesigned the social studies curriculum, highlighting more diverse perspectives and subjects and moving from a teacher lecture structure to one that enables student-led learning. In one year, this resulted in a 50% increase in test scores on the Global History Regents. She believes this is her greatest strength as an educator—to plan engaging, rigorous lessons that focus on artifact analysis and student collaboration. As the instructional lead for the social studies department, she has helped spread this approach throughout the department and the broader school community. Alongside social studies, she promotes civic engagement among students and is the supervisor for the school’s Youth Leadership Council where a group of students successfully advocated City Council members, securing a $90,000 grant to support the Safe Passage anti-violence program, which ensures that children make it home safely after school. Additionally, her interest in civics has led to a position on the Teacher Leadership Board for Generation Citizen where she provides a teacher perspective for civics-related initiatives that Generation Citizen is implementing nationally.