Congratulations to Milissa O’Neil on being awarded the Rhode Island 2025 Teacher of the Year! The Teacher of the Year Award Program was started by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 to recognize the importance of teachers as nurturers of the “American Dream.” Through an organized and varied selection process that involves classroom teachers, school administrators, state officials, students, parents, and business representatives, each state nominates its own Teacher of the Year.

Milissa’s passion for teaching science can be seen daily in her kindergarten classroom at Oakland Beach Elementary School in Warwick. Milissa supports her students to investigate their curiosities and work together to ‘figure things out.’ Her advocacy for STEM education extends beyond her classroom teaching. She has supported the development of math and science curricula within her district and has served as a member of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) STEAM Advisory Board. Milissa has also helped her school earn more than $100,000 to develop outdoor learning spaces through RIDE’s Learning Inside Out Outdoor Classroom grant funding opportunity. Additionally, Milissa is an active member of the GEMS-Net Teacher Leader program, where she co-facilitates workshops and has worked on developing curriculum documents and resources that support teachers within GEMS-Net. This summer, Milissa also joined a cohort of Teacher Leaders participating in the GEMS-Net Mentor Training Program. In this new role, Milissa not only aims to improve her own science teaching practice, but is also looking for opportunities where she can support her colleagues with science implementation. Congratulations again to Milissa on being awarded the Rhode Island 2025 Teacher of the Year. She is such a deserving candidate, and we are extremely proud to have her as a member of our GEMS-Net community!

The Teacher-in-Residence (TIR) program is a critical part of the GEMS-Net partnerships. TIRs work alongside the GEMS-Net team by facilitating workshops, providing coaching, and developing curriculum resources that help support science education within our 13 partner school districts. As current classroom teachers and educators, TIRs bring the classroom perspective to our leadership team as we develop professional learning and engage in research. We’ve included a few short bios below to help you get to know this year’s TIR team. Some of their faces will look familiar, while others are new. Either way, our TIRs are here to help support science teaching and learning in your classrooms!

Holly Emery is entering her fourth year as a TIR with the GEMS-Net team! She comes to us from Exeter-West Greenwich Junior High School, where she has taught science for 20 years. Her educational experience includes participation in Fulbright Teachers of Global Classroom and the Trans-Atlantic Outreach Program’s (TOP) study tour of science and environmental education in Germany. Her educational focus is facilitating opportunities that promote climate literacy in students as well as developing global competencies that will prepare students to effectively engage and solve problems in our changing world. Having completed the credentials for being a certified OpenSciEd professional learning provider, Holly will spend the majority of this school year supporting the adoption and implementation of the OpenSciEd curriculum at the middle school level (grades 6-8) by facilitating workshops and providing coaching.

Cathy Knasas is also returning to the GEMS-Net team for her second year as a TIR! Cathy has been a 4th grade teacher in Cumberland, RI for 20 years, and has been a member of the GEMS-Net Teacher Leader program since 2016. Cathy has been a longtime collaborator with the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA) partner organizations, bringing the best of local environmental learning to her students. Cathy also developed her own understanding of geosciences and related research methods as a participant in the URI Graduate School of Oceanography’s Teacher-at-Sea program. Based on her varied experiences and vast knowledge of the FOSS curriculum, Cathy will take on a larger role this year facilitating the K-5 Initial Workshops and providing coaching for elementary school teachers within the GEMS-Net partnership!

Sarah Reis has joined the GEMS-Net team as a Teacher-in-Residence for the 2024-2025 school year! Sarah has been an elementary educator in Providence for over 20 years–many years as a kindergarten teacher, as well as an English teacher for students who are multilingual learners in all elementary grades. She has been a member of the GEMS-Net Teacher Leader program since 2021. Sarah has co-taught STEM for all elementary grades and has most recently taught the second and third-grade FOSS curriculum with a focus on language development through science. Sarah is a former executive committee member of the Rhode Island Multilingual Learners Advisory Council and advocates for high-quality science education for all students. Sarah believes in the importance of outdoor education and has been a member of the Pat’s Pastured Farm Camp team since 2016. In addition to her years in education, Sarah has been a mentor through the Women’s Refugee Care organization since 2017. This year, she will work alongside TIR Cathy Knasas, facilitating the K-5 Initial FOSS workshops. We are so grateful and excited to learn from Sarah, as her valuable experience as an MLL educator brings a critical perspective on how we can support all students in our classroom!

Jack Koziatek is returning to the GEMS-Net team for his second year as a Navy/STEM TIR. In this position, Jack will work with engineering researchers at URI and UCONN to develop materials and professional learning resources for PreK - 12th-grade teachers that will connect the learning going on in our science classrooms to the engineering research happening in our own backyard. Jack has taught high school and middle school math and science, most recently at Groton Middle School in Groton, CT. Jack has a Masters of Science in Primary Education and Secondary Science Education and a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership. He incorporates hands-on lessons that are inquiry-based and student-led to help students build on prior knowledge and promote engagement in the classroom. We look forward to working with Jack again and building upon this cross-state collaboration between RI and CT public school districts and universities.

Charlene Tuttle is a 6th-grade teacher at the Lawn School in Jamestown and the newest GEMS-NET Navy/STEM TIR. Since she loves to explore new ideas, push limits of understanding, and ask questions, working with GEMS-NET seems like a perfect fit!! Curious by nature, Charlene looks forward to deepening the learning and building collaborations among students, educators, scientists, and engineers in this multi-state collaboration. As a former RI Teacher of the Year and a Presidential Awardee, she will use those connections to continue the outreach and share the excitement that's already been built by the Navy/STEM programming. Charlene’s thrilled to help expose students to possible college and career pathways and help prepare them for a future of innovation and engagement.

You may recall that over the past year, our GEMS-Net early childhood educators have been diving into media literacy and the intentional and appropriate integration of technology in the early years. We continue to work together to learn and grow educational strategies that support children in developing media literacy skills. In an information-saturated world, it is more important than ever to teach media literacy skills to our students. Science instruction provides many opportunities to incorporate technology in a way that elevates student voice and agency in their community while instilling essential media literacy competencies.

Teaching and learning media literacy skills begin early and continue throughout our lifetime. At every age, being a critical thinker and active participant in today’s world requires #MediaLiteracy skills — and that includes being able to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of media. Join the media literacy movement at mlw.namle.org and gain access to resources by registering for a free membership to the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE).

GEMS-Net continues to support teachers implementing the FOSS curriculum through workshops and coaching. We always appreciate the opportunity to work directly with teachers during the workshop sessions and by visiting GEMS-Net partner schools as we provide coaching.

Check out the photos below to see how we’ve been supporting teachers and students through coaching opportunities so far this fall.

We are also excited to welcome our grades K-2 teachers to advanced workshops during the 2024-2025 school year! The focus of these sessions will be a continuation of the collaboration with the Navy/STEM Coalition, a project out of URI’s College of Engineering. Teachers will enjoy a day on URI’s Kingston Campus, visiting engineering labs, talking with researchers and graduate students, and exploring resources that connect current engineering research happening at URI to the early childhood science curriculum. We look forward to working with our kindergarten and grade 2 teachers in January and our grade 1 teachers in March!

As a reminder, all science curriculum documents and resources can be found on your grade level GEMS-Net Google Classroom or through ThinkLink. The Google Classroom has resources to help you teach the courses. Find implementation guides, teacher support slide decks, and strategic research opportunities that will support your science instruction.ThinkLink houses all the specific FOSS curriculum materials such as the investigation guide, student notebook sheets, teacher prep videos, and student multimedia resources. GEMS-Net educators can click here to access specific grade-level Google Classrooms and learn more about the ThinkLink online digital platform.

GEMS-Net’s adoption and implementation of the OpenSciEd curriculum is off and running at the middle school level in grades 6-8! The OpenSciEd curriculum aims to position students as decision-makers in their learning. Students work collaboratively to explore a puzzling phenomenon, figure out what they don’t understand about how the phenomenon works, and set about developing models, designing investigations, engaging in discourse with their peers, and constructing evidence-based arguments to explain their new ideas. Within this curriculum, teachers take on the role of facilitators who guide student learning by supporting a classroom community that values all students’ experiences and ideas as essential for developing deep conceptual understanding. We truly appreciate all the hard work grades 6-8 teachers have been engaging in to become familiar with the OpenSciEd units, learn about the new instructional elements, and implement these instructional shifts within their classrooms. We look forward to continuing to work together with the middle school teachers through upcoming workshops, coaching, and professional learning communities.

Check out what some of your colleagues have been saying about the OpenSciEd professional learning offered by GEMS-Net:

Going through the units as “students” was really helpful. I kept reminding myself to be patient and understand that this will be messy.

Thanks for ALL the work you do in helping us understand the unit we are feeling uncomfortable about.

Thank you for all this hard work! You all stay positive even when it's hard!

I have more confidence in teaching and I have a clearer understanding of the unit.

Personally, I love the direction that this curriculum is taking us!

In an effort to provide continual support for the implementation of a high-quality science program, GEMS-Net has developed a mentor training program. We identified a need to provide another layer of building-level support in addition to the professional learning opportunities teachers receive through workshops and coaching. This summer, 20 GEMS-Net Teacher Leaders attended a mentor training institute aimed at preparing them to confidently serve as informal mentors for colleagues who may seek their advice regarding science instruction. During the multi-day institute, Teacher Leaders learned about the role and responsibilities of serving as a mentor, began developing and practicing effective mentoring skills, and created a plan for how they would approach this role as informal mentors within their school community. By providing formal training for Teacher Leaders, we aim to make informal mentoring opportunities among colleagues more equitable for all teachers.

If you have a GEMS-Net teacher mentor within your school, please take advantage of their availability and expertise as challenges arise related to science instruction. They are eager and willing to support science education within your school community. You may not have a GEMS-Net teacher mentor in your building yet. We have plans to build the program so that more partner schools have access to this valuable resource. Finally, a special thank you goes out to all the Teacher Leaders who have chosen to take on this new role of informal mentor. We truly appreciated their willingness and enthusiasm to support science education across the GEMS-Net partnership!

GEMS-Net continues to look for opportunities to develop local community partnerships that support science education. Here’s a brief overview of some ways we have recently engaged with our community to support science teaching and learning across Rhode Island!

This past summer, GEMS-Net collaborated with URI’s Navy/STEM coalition to host a two-day Summer Institute for Teacher Leaders focused on showcasing STEM college and career pathways available to RI students. Over the two-day institute, Teacher Leaders had a chance to tour the Guill Tool and Engineering Company in West Warwick and General Dynamics Electric Boat in North Kingstown. At both facilities, the Teacher Leaders talked with engineers and machinists to hear their stories about entering the STEM workforce. These conversations provided the Teacher Leaders with valuable insights about the skills that make someone successful in engineering careers such as learning from your mistakes, being able to accept feedback, and seeking out mentors and colleagues to improve your craft. These are skills we can work on with students in our science classrooms as they consider their future career pathways. There are great engineering and manufacturing jobs for our students right here in RI! Science teachers can introduce these opportunities to their students. GEMS-Net continues to develop instructional resources that promote the work of real engineers and machinists so that students are aware of the college and career opportunities that exist for them in RI.

GEMS-Net participated in Science Saturday, hosted by URI's Graduate School of Oceanography on September 7th. This is a free, annual, family-friendly event held each fall. GEMS-Net staff, Teacher Leaders, and high-school student volunteers engaged families in completing a BioBlitz scavenger hunt around URI’s Bay Campus. Children built a Science Tool Kit that included homemade binoculars, writing tools, and collection bags. Families explored the Bay Campus and recorded their findings of the natural world using the iNaturalist website. Families also added their observations and questions to a large map of the URI Bay Campus!

Click on the link below to see what families discovered at Science Saturday.

The GEMS-Net team presented multiple sessions at the 2024 Rhode Island Science Teachers Association (RISTA) Conference held at the URI Kingston Campus. The first session, entitled Wait, That’s a Job I Can Do Someday? Connecting Engineering Research to the Classroom (K-8), showcased GEMS-Net’s collaboration with URI’s Navy/STEM Coalition. Participants were introduced to resources created by local teachers and engineering researchers that link high-quality science curricula to cutting-edge engineering research. The workshop participants toured an engineering lab and gained access to K-8 NGSS-aligned videos and instructional materials that engage students in scenario-based tasks using data from engineering research. The second session, Getting Prepared for HQIM in Science: A Conversation with Teachers Who Are Implementing OpenSciEd (K-12), was an opportunity for RI science educators who were curious about the OpenSciEd curriculum, the storyline model, and the experiences of teachers in the early stages of implementation. We extend a heartfelt thanks to our presenting Teacher Leaders, Justin Bentley from Westerly Middle School and Kelly Grennan-Smith from Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown. They shared their experiences and discussed what’s been exciting and tricky with implementing the OpenSciEd curriculum. Lastly, in collaboration with our partners from the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA), we co-presented a third session called Local, Relevant, & Phenomenal Ideas for Learning in the Schoolyard (K-8). Participants engaged in activities that modeled how teachers can effectively use outdoor learning spaces to engage students in exploring local phenomena. The session also provided an opportunity for science teachers to network with local environmental educators and organizations that are eager to partner with schools in support of promoting outdoor teaching and learning.

If you are interested in getting your students outdoors, check out the link below to see how you can participate in Outdoor Classroom Day coming up on November 7th!

Diversity and inclusion in STEM fields are essential for robust research and workforce development. Science and STEM academic and career pathways continue to be inequitable. Women and people from marginalized communities are underrepresented in STEM and report negative experiences in STEM spaces. Dr. Sara Sweetman’s NSF-funded research aims to explore children’s perceptions of women scientists to identify if and when children develop biases toward women in science. Understanding biases towards women in science can help the education community mitigate inequitable experiences by instilling positive attitudes towards diverse perspectives in science.

The Draw-A-Scientist-Test (DAST) has been implemented to identify perceptions of scientists for many years. The DAST allows younger children to share their perceptions of scientists and provides insight for researchers. One research activity in the NSF project asked children to “Draw a woman scientist at work.” GEMS-Net Teacher Leaders and colleagues had the opportunity to engage in the project by implementing the Draw-A-Woman-Scientist-Test with their students. We received over 500 drawings from students ranging from kindergarten to 8th grade.

Three of our Teacher Leaders engaged further in the education research process. Our graduate student researchers and research faculty provided training for the three educators, who then spent time coding drawings during the summer months.

The participating teachers shared their research experience. Here is what they had to say:

To be honest, this was my first exposure to the inner workings of education research and I had never really given any thought as to how it was done. While elementary drawings vary from child to child, I found the process was able to streamline what was being analyzed, which actually came up with some solid data and identified definite trends in student thoughts on Women in Science. I just never considered that if analyzed in a detailed way, even a crayon drawing by a Kindergartener could provide insight into the biases held by our youngest students.

I greatly enjoyed seeing the world of science through the lens of a younger generation. I was excited to see some students really saw science in a variety of realistic career choices.