A pair of educators from Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School presented at the 2019 Long Island Technology and Education Summit on Oct. 18 at the Huntington Hilton. Amy Stein, a fifth grade teacher, and Timothy Quinn, the library media specialist and STREAM program leader, highlighted the Skin in the Game initiative which was implemented last year as a result of a grant awarded to the district. 

Through this collaborative effort, students to create board games with technology features. Groups choose topics related to the curriculum as inspiration for the games, so the project helps reinforce grade-level content. 

Project-based learning activities, such as Skin in the Game help teach students the essentials of collaboration and communication between each other as they become game developers. Students enhance their games by incorporating technology-based applications, such as making game pieces on a 3D printer. Children become highly engaged and challenged throughout this process and gain a new perspective of what they could achieve using these technological tools.

Mr. Tim Quinn and Ms. Stein also gave the Amityville Board of Education a brief overview of their presentation at Nov. 13 meeting. 

More than 30 professionals helped spark career interest for students at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School on Nov. 8. The annual Career Day program featured guest speakers who were happy to lend their expertise to the future workforce.  

Students learned about a variety of different fields including communications, finance, law enforcement, medicine, public service, social work and more. Speakers included parents of Park Avenue students, representatives of the local business community and Amityville Memorial High School alumni. They talked about the qualifications needed for their respective careers, job responsibilities and what they find most exciting, in addition to fielding questions from students. 

Representatives from the Science and Technology department at Farmingdale State College generated excitement for careers in STEM fields with hands-on activities. Other children were able to explore an Amityville fire truck as well as police cars from the Amityville and Suffolk County police departments. 

Guidance counselor Kimberly Balducci, who organized the event, thanked all of the participants for giving their time to talk to students about various careers. She said it was especially exciting to have several Amityville graduates come in to share their success stories.