Teddi Freedman, Project Coordinator, Senior, tfreedma@uwyo.edu
General ESP4T Assistance, esp4t_tech@uwyo.edu
6-12 Science/ STEM Education
Miken Harnish has 21 years of educational experience in 6-12 Science with 9 years at the High School level and 12 years at the Middle School level. Mrs. Harnish was the first Wyoming teacher selected to attend the USPTO National Summer Teacher Institute in 2017, was the 2015 Wyoming STEM teacher of the year and her students have won both state and national science competitions. She has developed numerous STEM elective courses, taught afterschool STEM programs, and delivered professional development at the local and state level. At Wheatland Middle School, Mrs. Harnish currently teaches integrated 8th grade science from a phenomenon approach, STEM with Arduino elective classes, Lego Robotics, Computer Gaming, and Entomology through fly tying. This is the fourth year Wheatland Middle School students have been learning Arduino and designing innovative products and solutions using their Arduino kits. Mrs. Harnish delivers educational and corporate training through her consulting company Sailing with STEAM, LLC.
Elementary/Computer Coding
Cindy is also in her 21st year of teaching elementary. She has taught grades 1, 3, 4, and 6. Mrs. Amundson is National Board Certified and a Candidate Support Provider for new candidates. She has been a director of Camp Invention, an innovative hands-on inventor’s summer camp and after school program for 5 years and was an instructor for 6 years prior. Mrs. Amundson has taught at the after school and summer school STEAM program and a Scientific Method/Science Fair club in her district. She has been teaching an after school coding K-5 coding club for the past two years through Lego Robotics, online coding sites, Ozobots, and an introduction to Arduino. Mrs.Amundson currently teaches 4th grade at West Elementary in Wheatland and is having a blast integrating Arduino into our Physical Science unit and utilizing Raspberry Pi in our Language Arts curriculum!
9-12 Mathematics/Engineering Teacher
Gary Duquette has 13 years of educational experience teaching mathematics and Project Lead the Way Engineering at Jackson Hole High School in Wyoming. He currently teaches Introduction to Engineering, Principles of Engineering, Digital Electronics, and Engineering Design and Development. Gary was selected as a Sieman’s Researcher in the Classroom in 2013, and the 2014 Wyoming STEM secondary teacher of the year. Since 2013, the Engineering Design and Development Capstone class has partnered with NASA in the HUNCH (High School Students United with NASA to create Hardware) Design and Prototyping division developing products for the microgravity environment. Gary started the FIRST Robotics program in Teton County in 2009. The Jackson Hole RoboBroncs currently have over 300 students K-12 participating in FIRST robotics. In 2018, The Jackson Hole High School RoboBroncs FRC team finished fifth in the robotics competition in Houston Championships.
Leah Ritz has 10 years of experience working with preschool through adult aged students in a range of informal science education environments including museum centers, outdoor classrooms, summer camps, and after school programs. While her teaching background is diverse, some of her favorite teaching topics include field ecology in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and soldering simple circuits. Most recently her work has been as the Director of Education at The Science Zone in Casper where she has worked to develop a STEM enrichment resource for learners of all ages across the state of Wyoming. At The Science Zone, Leah developed and led professional development workshops focusing on integrating STEM standards in the Elementary classroom. Leah is continuing to pursue a career in science centers as an exhibit developer where she is able to creatively use technology and everyday items to inspire curiosity and illustrate the connections between STEM fields and the seemingly disparate areas of art, design, literature and the social sciences. In her free time, Leah enjoys spending many hours doing arts and crafts projects as well as endurance sports.