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Erica Lockwood, a seven-year veteran of the district, is one of 10 teachers selected to participate in the Hudson Valley STEM Teaching Fellowship program, a professional development experience for science teachers.
The fellowship – a collaboration involving Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, NASA and the Teachers College – is a yearlong program that concludes with a leadership certificate in STEM education from Columbia University. It includes a two-week research experience at Regeneron in Tarrytown and professional development workshops in STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- teaching methods from award-winning teachers from various fields at the nonprofit STEM Leadership Center in Rye.
Lockwood said that she is eager to get started on the fellowship and is especially looking forward to getting hands-on at Regeneron. It will be her first time back in a lab in nearly a decade.
“I am very excited to be a part of this groundbreaking program, and more specifically, I cannot wait for the research experience at Regeneron,” she said. “Through my teaching practice, I try to convey that one ‘does science’; however, eight years removed from a college laboratory setting, I really wanted to get back in a lab and see how technology and research has advanced.”
The fellowship is designed to “help fellows become master science teachers that will inspire and prepare students for college and careers in STEM. Lockwood noted that she has already incorporated some NASA anecdotes into her biology and forensics classes.
“I hope to broaden my understanding of engineering, an area in critical need of qualified students to study in the future,” she said. “I have already been able to incorporate novel tidbits of information about the NASA program and astrobiology into my lessons since starting the program.”
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