Erica DeMichele has been an educator in NJ for 24 years, educating both urban and suburban communities in South Jersey in the areas of biology, environmental science and forensics. As a K-12 Supervisor in Delran, a suburban school district outside of Philadelphia, she has had the pleasure of creating new programming to build culture and enhance in and out of school time programs in the area of STEM. As Co-lead for the Delran STEM Ecosystem Alliance, with Mary Jo Hutchinson, family engagement, quality STEM learning aligned to standards, partner development, real world STEM application and continued teacher professional development has been implemented in the culture of the community. Our most notable achievements since being adopted as a SLECop: The $1.2 million dollar Delran Innovation & Fabrication Lab opened its doors in 2019; 6 years of the ever growing/ever inclusive Delran Cubs STEAM Up Camp, an intensive Sustainability program K-12 through Sustainable Jersey for Schools, a robust K-12 robotics program and STEM Fair initiatives inclusive of all ecosystem partners. Currently, she is working on building the STEM career pathway for the middle grade students in Delran, thanks to a competitive Middle Grades Career Grant from the NJDOE, she has brought Fab Maker Studio, CNC routing and die cutting to the students at Delran Middle School. The goal is to bring more digital fabrication tools such as laser cutters this coming school year.
