About STEM Supplies
We are excited to share the STEM Supplies blog with you! STEM Supplies brings innovative products into the classroom to immerse students in STEM principles and to connect their learnings to the real world. Our products are designed to promote creativity, inquiry, and collaboration while encouraging students to learn through discovery.
But at STEM Supplies, we know that STEM is more than a collection of amazing robots and exciting building manipulatives—it’s a full-fledged curriculum that demands unique teaching skills. We developed this blog to inspire teachers to overcome the hurdles of implementing STEM practices into their classrooms and allow their students to reap the rewards of STEM learning!
From resources to classroom activities, this blog offers content relevant to teachers who need help learning STEM teaching strategies or are just looking for a few expert tips to help them thrive. Our articles are written by incredible educators and STEM leaders from all over the US, each one sharing their own unique experiences in the STEM universe.
Thank you for visiting the STEM Supplies blog and for your role in educating tomorrow’s leaders!
Meet Our 2024-25 IDEA Team Members
Jason Fialkovich
Jason Fialkovich – or as he is better known by his library community, Mr. Jason – has been the Youth Services Director for the Middletown Free Library for over 11 years. Since the library moved to a new, bigger space, he has also become the Maker Space Manager. Jason has been an informal educator to a wide range of kids & adults his whole life. His favorite programs to run are video game design and 3D design for 3D printing. He’s started a side gig called Bright Idea Makers to share his skills & ideas with others.
Maggie Fernando
Maggie Fernando has been teaching science and STEM for 10 years at the middle school and high school level. She currently teaches biology to freshman and sophomores at Mountain Ridge High School while pursuing another masters degree in educational leadership. She has a passion for building engaging STEM curriculum that allows students to experience real-world situations in the classroom.
Mary O’Brien
Educating the children of Boston to be innovators for 21st century learning has always been important to Mary’s teaching. Using the 4Cs +1 of 21st century learning, her students are developing knowledge and student agency around their critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and contributions to the classroom community. She has transitioned from Grade 2 classroom to teaching STEAM for elementary students in grades 2-5.
Regan Davis
Regan Davis is a middle school librarian with 19 years in the field of education. She holds a B.A. in Journalism, B.B.A. in Business Communications and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science. Regan is passionate about fostering a love for reading and discovery among her students. She enjoys finding innovative ways to engage her middle schoolers and create an enriching learning environment. Outside of her professional life, Regan loves reading, exploring new activities, and spending quality time with her two energetic daughters.
Meet Our Authors
Andrew Arevalo
Andrew Arevalo is a fourth-grade teacher and member of the Ed. Tech Team at McCabe Union Elementary School District in El Centro, California. Andrew holds a Master of Education in curriculum and instruction. He is the recipient of the 2019 CUE Emerging Teacher of the Year Award and a finalist for the 2019 CUE LeRoy Finkel Fellowship. Andrew is passionate about leveraging blended learning, the power of play, and design thinking through STEM-related experiences to support and ignite student curiosity.
Rachel Fees
Rachel Fees is the Brand Manager for STEM Supplies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in geophysics and planetary sciences from Boston University and a Master of Science in STEM Education from Wheelock College. Previously, she led K-12 teacher professional development workshops in Maryland and taught K-8 students through a museum outreach program in Massachusetts. When not playing fetch with her corgi, Murphy, she enjoys playing board games with her husband, Logan, and all things related to science and engineering.
Jessica Fitzpatrick
Jessica Fitzpatrick is a middle-school librarian and is in her sixth year of education. She holds a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from the University of Houston and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas. She enjoys running, reading, and spending time with her two daughters and husband.
Vince Gruse
Vince Gruse is in his second year teaching STEM at a self-contained special education program in Baltimore, MD. He holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology with a concentration in neuroscience from the University of Maryland and is currently working towards a Master of Science in special education: mild to moderate from Johns Hopkins University. Vince enjoys spending his free time tinkering with electronics, designing 3D-printed solutions, and watching sports.
Savannah Lodge-Scharff
Savannah Lodge-Scharff is a high-school physics teacher in the Boston Public Schools. She is originally from Maine, completing her undergraduate degree in physics from Colby College, and her Master of Science in Teaching from the University of Maine, where she met her husband, Alex. She began teaching in Massachusetts in 2014, after spending a year in outreach education at the Museum of Science in Boston. Her professional interests include project-based learning, restorative justice, trauma-informed practices, and technology integration. Her personal interests include visiting micro-breweries and following New England sports teams. She currently lives in Roxbury with her husband and two dogs, Pythagoruff (Pi) and Schrodingerrr (Rho).
Jeff Wheatcraft
Jeff Wheatcraft is the creator, coordinator, and teacher of the STEM program at Alamo Heights Junior School in San Antonio, TX. In his 13th year of teaching, he is continuing to push the boundaries of hands-on, real-world problem solving. Students in his class are charged with finding solutions to tough problems and then building the solution and testing it for viability. He is the 2019 Texas Teacher of the Year and has been awarded the Trinity Prize of Teaching Excellence and been nominated twice for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.
