TEACHER OF INTEREST
The STEM TEACHER
Lauren Chesrown’s first-grade students at Jensen Beach Elementary are exploring different types of magnifiers, from inside on the Hubble Telescope to outside
Walking the hallways of Jensen Beach Elementary
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between classes, Lauren Chesrown feels like a
superstar as children from every grade call out
her name upon seeing their STEM teacher.
“I have the privilege of knowing every child in the school,”
she said. “I support the classroom instruction that happens
with their regular teachers. My classroom is hands-on lab
experiences that goes along with the curriculum for all K- to
fifth-grade students. It’s such an awesome position to have at
the school because I get to reach everybody and every one of
them are mine.”
STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — is
not something most people would associate with elementary
schools, but Chesrown makes every class so interesting that
even children struggling academically feel successful.
“The first week of school, to get students used to being in
LORI VAN DIEN
the lab, I gave them an engineering project with toothpicks
and Play-Doh,” she said. “They had to build a standing tower
to learn the routines and get familiar with the engineering
design process.”
After moving to Jensen Beach, Chesrown fell in love with
the water, saying the projects she is most proud of are those
that teach students about coastal waters along Florida and
worldwide.
She has been working with OCEARCH, a team of professional
sports fishermen that partnered with the scientists
responsible for tagging and following great white sharks. She
reached out to them a few years ago and began teaching her
students the purpose of its work, which also is a window to
careers in science. Students learn the importance of preserving
the great white shark because they are a big part of the
health of our oceans worldwide. >>
in their butterfly garden.
BY LORI VAN DIEN
Trends In Education