Today’s top STEM teachers embrace learning opportunities wherever they arise, whether it’s baby squirrels that have fallen from their nest, or engineering design failures that literally go up in smoke.
At the GeekWire Awards on May 18, we’re celebrating two STEM Educators of the Year who are among the best in delivering science, technology, engineering and math education. They’re teaching students fundamental scientific principles — but perhaps even more importantly, they’re helping them learn how to solve problems, take risks, and recover from failure.
The GeekWire Awards recognize the top innovators and companies in Pacific Northwest technology. Our STEM educator honorees were selected based on community nominations, along with input from GeekWire Awards judges.
We recently spoke with the two teachers to learn more about their creative, engaging efforts to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders. Bank of America is the sponsor of this award, now in its third year.
The 2023 STEM Educator of the Year honorees are:
Ted Rodriquez, Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center
Ted Rodriquez is an instructor for high school juniors and seniors at the Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center in Everett, Wash. The program serves tech-focused students in 44 high schools spread across multiple districts north of Seattle.
Rodriquez is focused is on electronics, engineering and the interdisciplinary field of mechatronics and his students are highly sought after by local employers. He was previously a department head at Skagit Valley College, leading the Electronics Engineering Technology Department.
Before teaching, Rodriquez served in the armed forces, and he and his wife tend a 7 acre hobby farm in their free time.
Melissa Pearcy, Jefferson Elementary
Melissa Pearcy teaches kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students in her role as a science specialist at Jefferson Elementary, which is part of Spokane Public Schools.
She is a lead teacher in her 30,000 student district in Eastern Washington, and provides STEM professional development for her colleagues. Pearcy also serves on a national team developing cutting-edge science curriculum focused on real-world learning.
When not in the classroom, Pearcy is a graduate student pursuing a PhD in science education.
Listen to our podcast with Pearcy and Rodriquez below, and keep reading for highlights from our conversation, edited for clarity and length.
One of the important initiatives in STEM education is bringing more kids into this space. How do you think about engaging students?
Pearcy: We have a lot of hands-on experiences and real-life opportunities for them to connect to real-world problems.
We’ve been working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, where we are solving different problems in our community, such as having a moose on our playground, or what happens when some baby squirrels fell out of a tree. The kids came around [asking] what do we do? Do we pick them up? Do we leave them? What they ended up doing is they called a scientist, the scientist said, “Go on Google, find some mom squirrel sounds, put the phone by the baby squirrels, that will attract the mom.”
And so we actually did that during recess. They put the phone right by the baby squirrels, the mom came out of the tree, picked them up, and then brought all four of them up into a different tree into a nest. It’s just real-life problems. Kids are naturally curious, and they’re empathetic so that is really the drive.
Rodriquez: We may start a project, let’s say in alternative energy, and the construction department might want to take advantage of solar panels for some of their school bus sheds that you see on rural roads to keep the students safe from rain and snow. They call upon our electronic engineering students to come in, set them up and so on. That interaction allows a different insight into the world of science. It is a fantastic opportunity.
Our world is moving so fast that content isn’t always the most important piece — you really want to teach students to learn. And you look at something like GPT-4, which is turning things upside down potentially, and it seems like that critical thinking is even more important. How do you approach that?
Pearcy: It’s capturing the natural wonder of kids and letting them ask their own questions, and then being a facilitator for them to do their own research. Yes, you’re 5 years old, or you’re 8 years old, you have questions. Guess what, people that are much older than you have not found the answers. You could be the one. So with that frame of mind, just nurturing their own questions. It’s not a cookbook-type laboratory.
Rodriquez: Empowerment is a large part of engineering. I allow my students to fail. They have an opportunity to develop their designs. They have to make a decision, right or wrong. If they make a wrong decision in the design, they have to figure out what went wrong, how do you fix it, and move forward.
But they do have an opportunity to — I love that phrase “blowing up things” — they do have an opportunity to blow things up. I have a saying that am not happy until I see “maximum smoke,” as it shows that you are trying.
Our audience is very tech focused and in the STEM fields themselves. Do you have an ask for our listeners? Is there something that people working in the tech space could do for your programs, for public schools around the state?
Rodriquez: I would like to have as many of our tech folks visit programs like ours — Melissa’s and ours here at Sno-Isle. That is the best thing that could happen to our students, seeing these folks and meeting them, talking to them. Just the association. Just to see the immense love for the technologies with which these folks are working in their respective companies — and the opportunities that a lot of them have for our future technicians and scientists.
Pearcy: There is a little one of you out there that’s just waiting to be inspired by you. So if you can, go mentor them or pull back the layers of this is how I failed, this is my life story, letting them in on that secret of how you got to where you are.
You’re inspiring that next generation and you might walk away a little bit inspired by some of our younger scientists and engineers and technologies as well.
Listen to the full discussion on the GeekWire Podcast above, or subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
