STEMshoots – Strengthening our Community’s STEM Ecosystem.
By the time we figured out how to work the system our kids are big. So, we are paying it forward by sharing what we’ve learned across three categories. We’d love to hear what you find useful!
Strengthening Schools
- Lead like a golden retriever when speaking to your School District
- School clubs can keep kids interested in STEM with these 13 tips
- School scheduling can work harder for New Providence – high school can fit in more electives
- Lobbying hard to get our School bond passed – Bond Referendum FAQ
- Using Superintendent Forums to develop district strategy
- Project Lead The Way Keeps the Joy of Learning Alive
Building Skills
- 9 Tips to Guide your Child through their School’s Math Tracking
- Creative Compensation Opens Opportunities for Teens
- How I used Khan Academy to Help my Kids Succeed in 12 steps
- How a Mommy Capstone Project was born
- How our family learned to give experiences for the Holidays
Safe Routes to School
- School Children Win $462,000 for New Providence – Heard our application was the most thorough they’d seen
- Plan your Walk, Roll or Drive to New Providence Schools with our Interactive Maps
- Plan Elementary School Drop Off and Pick Up Using Safe Routes to School – Allen W. Roberts
- Creating a Route Home to Every New Providence Neighborhood – “stranded” neighborhoods
- ‘Tis the season to count our blessings – especially school drop off volunteers and Mrs Hansen
- School Travel Plan for New Providence Safe Routes to School – using blog posts & website instead of static PDF.
- Safe Routes to School (SRTS) in 9 Google Maps Layers – Step by step to use our approach
STEMshoots applies STEM to our Walk to School
Kids learn best when families are also involved and STEMshoots is here to help. For example, we use STEM to make Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) for our kids walking and biking.
- Science – learn about the plants and animals you might see such as poison ivy and its natural remedy, jewel weed.
- Technology – plan your drop off or pick up at school using Google Maps layers.
- Engineering – understand what was involved in enhancing AWR’s back path and other Safe Routes to School.
- Math – the types of things we counted and measured to dramatically reduce morning drop off congestion with out spending money, especially at AWR
STEMshoots gives busy parents actionable steps to incorporate STEM in our families, schools and communities.
Our SRTS team awards:
- 2016 won 2 gold and 2 silver New Jersey Safe Routes to School Awards, for our program over the last 5 years. In 2022-2024 again won gold for the municipality and all 3 eligible schools
- received AAA Community Traffic Safety Hero Award, 2015. Good Scout award from Patriots Path Council, 2020.
- earn a Net Promoter Rating of 39 at AWR and 9 at SB in our 2016 Parent Surveys
In addition to the pages dedicated to the SRTS, STEMshoots will also include a blog helping parents to keep our kids excited about STEM. It is an offshoot of New Providence STEM, a real world and Facebook group focused on New Providence, NJ. After turning away many member requests from neighboring towns, we’ve formed a second Facebook community, STEMshoots to share articles, ideas, classes and what works among a broader group.
About Donna 
Donna Zane is running for New Providence’s Board of Education!
About Cecile
My name is Cecile Seth. The team extrovert, I live in suburban New Providence, New Jersey with my husband and 3 teens since 2003. Donna Zane & I co-chair our Safe Routes To School team, co-lead our NP STEM Facebook group. I also bring two decades of community service, management consulting experience,and an MBA. Teaching my deaf son to speak has taught me a lot about how to work effectively with a school, and how to turn the every day into a learning opportunity. My other gig is exploring the effect of lifestyle on metabolic health over at MetabolicMultiplier.org.
STEMshoots helps parents understand “the parent box” and use it to their advantage.
Join our discussion on Facebook or comment on the page below. Other authors welcome!
About “The Pioneer”
Once we’ve collectively vetted the content and it is edging toward policy, the author for that page will be changed to The Pioneer, our town mascot, and perhaps added to our school district page. Our Safe Route to School Team includes each of us!
Our Philosophy
We believes that STEM literacy, team work, communication skills and creativity are important to prepare our kids and their peers for tomorrow’s world.
We want our kids to be surrounded by a thriving local economy in which their peers and neighbors are also starting businesses, cultivating new competencies and hiring employees. They create new jobs as fast as technical change obsoletes the routine, boring aspects of old jobs. Our kids are comfortable with this constant change because they know how to learn and they adeptly consume small units of training to keep their skills current.
Continuing to strengthen STEM in our public schools is key to making this bright future a reality. As parents we eagerly partner with teachers, administrators, Boards of Education, Town Councils, business leaders, non-profits and anyone else who can help us enhance our STEM Ecosystem.
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