A pair of educators from Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School presented at the 2019 Long Island Technology and Education Summit on Oct. 18 at the Huntington Hilton. Amy Stein, a fifth grade teacher, and Timothy Quinn, the library media specialist and STREAM program leader, highlighted the Skin in the Game initiative which was implemented last year as a result of a grant awarded to the district. 

Through this collaborative effort, students to create board games with technology features. Groups choose topics related to the curriculum as inspiration for the games, so the project helps reinforce grade-level content. 

Project-based learning activities, such as Skin in the Game help teach students the essentials of collaboration and communication between each other as they become game developers. Students enhance their games by incorporating technology-based applications, such as making game pieces on a 3D printer. Children become highly engaged and challenged throughout this process and gain a new perspective of what they could achieve using these technological tools.

Mr. Tim Quinn and Ms. Stein also gave the Amityville Board of Education a brief overview of their presentation at Nov. 13 meeting.