High School Division
Taking top honors in the high school division was the 64,000-square-foot Nikola Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, Wash. Integrus Architecture, with offices in Spokane and Seattle; the Seattle office of Heery International; and Absher Construction of Puyallup, Wash., all worked on the project. The school opened in 2012, and the team’s use of 161 prefabricated modular units helped speed up the construction schedule.

The facility features strategic orientation and extensive daylighting, a high-performance thermal envelope system, pervious paving and bioswales for 100 percent on-site stormwater management, and a 10-kilowatt photovoltaic system with net metering. The school is organized into academic clusters with dedicated learning settings and studios. Space is also dedicated to student presentation areas and commons where students can study in groups or independently.

Middle School Division
The STEM Academy of Savannah, Ga., received the STEM Excellence Award for the middle school division. The nearly 700-student school was the first in the state to receive STEM certification from the Georgia Department of Education, thanks in part to its work to build connections with local community and business partners.

The structure originally housed Bartlett Middle School and was converted to a STEM facility in 2013, offering a challenging and rigorous STEM curriculum. For example, the school has integrated the flipped classroom method, and students rely more on iPads than textbooks. Popular courses and programs include Lego robotics and broadcasting.

Elementary School Division
The elementary school division prize went to Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. Elementary in St. Petersburg, Fla. The school opened in 2003 with a curriculum that focuses on high-quality, research-based programs delivered by specially selected and trained educators. Each member of the school’s teaching staff is National Board trained, and 60 percent hold a master’s degree or higher. The school has also won numerous awards, and the engineering curriculum in particular is currently be adapted for use in university programs and classrooms across the country, according to the school’s website.

Finalists
The winning schools were chosen from hundreds of applicants, with a pool of three finalists in each division. Finalists in the high school division included Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies in Overland Park, Kan., and Immaculata-La Salle High School in Miami. Middle school division finalists were Laing Middle School of Science and Technology in Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Renton Prep in Renton, Wash. Elementary school finalists included The Evergreen School in Shoreline, Wash., and Jack Anderson Elementary in Hendersonville, Tenn.

Winners were selected by the FETC STEM Advisory Board, which includes K-12 and university educators, STEM leaders and technology experts from across the nation.
 

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As one of the largest educational technology conferences, FETC provides Pre-K-12 educators and administrators an opportunity to explore the integration of technology across the curriculum through hands-on exposure to the latest software and successful implementation strategies, according to a statement by event organizers.

Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code Reshma Saujani kicked off the conference as the opening keynote speaker. In her speech, Saujani discussed bridging the gender gap in technological learning and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. FETC also hosted a screening of CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, a documentary which highlights the shortage of American female and minority software engineers and explores the reasons for this gap.

Meanwhile, keynote speaker, engineer and astronaut Leland Melvin presented on the importance of pursuing STEM careers and National Teacher of the Year Sean McComb offered the keynote address, iWill: Activating Empowered Teachers and Students, in which he shared his positive experiences in transforming his own classroom as well as the conditions necessary for students and teachers to thrive.

The event also recognized innovation in the field of STEM education at the primary, middle and high school levels at the second annual STEM Excellence Awards. STEM Excellence Award-winning schools were evaluated on the use of interdisciplinary curriculum, collaboration, design, problem solving and STEM experiences offered. Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School of St. Petersburg, Fla., was the winner in the elementary school division, while The STEM Academy of Savannah, Ga., took top honors in the middle school division. Nikola Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, Wash., claimed the honor in the high school division.

“Beyond STEM, FETC prides itself in highlighting a variety of education technology topics in its more than 500 sessions — from podcasting in the classroom to assistive technology to game-based learning,” said Mike Eason, FETC general manager, in a statement. These sessions focused on topics ranging from communication and collaboration to emerging technologies and maker tools to technology infrastructure. They included everything from 3D printing to robotics instruction to tips for peer-to-peer online professional development.

The conference expo also included more than 400 exhibitors such as Florida Shines, Insight Systems Exchange, National Science Foundation, Scantron, Microsoft, Lenovo, Aver and Epson.
 

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