Owings Mills Elementary Program Honored With Statewide STEM Award

OWINGS MILLS, MD — Owings Mills Elementary School’s "Project Lead The Way Launch" has been honored with the 2022 Program of Excellence Award at the elementary level by the Technology and Engineering Educators Association of Maryland (TEEAM).

The award is one of the highest honors given to technology and engineering education programs. Awards are given to one program from each category at the elementary, middle, and high school levels from every state, Baltimore County Public Schools said.

According to the school district, Owings Mills Elementary teachers Emily Langton and Amanda Prescott initiated the Project Lead the Way Launch program in fall 2019.

The weekly before-school program engages students in hands-on engineering, robotics, and technology education activities. This year, 30 students in Grades 3 – 5 are participating, the school district said.

“We launched the Project Lead the Way program in our school to bring more opportunities to our students to experience engineering and computer science literacy,” said Langton and Prescott in a news release. “We wanted to create an environment in which problem-solving is at the forefront of every lesson. We are reworking the way we see failure and teaching our kids that failure is one step closer to success. They take the information from what did not work, and problem solve to see what will work or could work in the future.”

Prescott, who attended Reisterstown Elementary and Franklin Middle, graduated from Franklin High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a master's degree in technology leadership from Towson University.

Langton earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a master's degree in leadership in teaching: STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) from Notre Dame of Maryland University.

“Through the program, students develop essential skills such as problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and perseverance,” said Dr. Michael Grubbs, BCPS coordinator of career and technical education. “Ms. Langton and Ms. Prescott serve as models for their colleagues, inspiration to the BCPS and PLTW Launch communities, and leaders in the region as proponents of advancing technological literacy for elementary students. In April 2021, Ms. Langton and Ms. Prescott were chosen to share their program’s unique implementation model with teachers throughout the Delmarva region.”

Langton and Prescott will receive their state award at the upcoming TEEAM Awards Banquet on Friday, Feb. 25, and again at the ITEEA international conference in Orlando in March 2022.