Lauren Cramer – Carroll County Schools

​Role Classroom Teacher 
School District Carroll County Schools
Link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mUKLg_MTiY1gbNLOeHq_B9uKVI_0JIZY/view?usp=sharing
From the nomination…
Lauren Cramer goes above and beyond every day to continually grow as an educator. She is a fifth year teacher who did not start teaching on the traditional teaching route. She grew from being a brand new teacher to being our school’s Teacher of the Year and District Finalist in only her first four years of teaching. Since earning her National STEM Certification in 2021, she has become an ambassador for STEM education and she led our school in becoming a Nationally STEM Certified School, which is an honor only two-percent of middle schools in our Nation can claim! She is constantly attending conferences and professional development courses to enhance her knowledge of how to better apply STEM instructional practices in her classroom. She is very dedicated to her craft and these opportunities often require her to travel for the courses. Lauren was one of the forty-five individuals selected in the Nation by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) as a 2023 STEM Fellow, which is sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation. She recently attended the NSTA Conference in Atlanta, where she spent four days in professional development and meeting with like-minded teachers who share her passion for technology integration in science.

Lauren was selected for the 2023 Don Cargill STEM Scholar Award for Georgia educators with a $500 grant to outfit her STEM classroom. Lauren used the grant money to purchase a world-first smart device for composting. The device allows students to record data from their compost and gamify their findings by competing with other schools that have the digital composter. She also uses other technology in her classroom to help students grasp the content they are learning, such as a Merge Cube where students can use an app to have 3D models at their fingertips. She utilizes her digital microscope to allow her students real-world visualizations of cells that they cannot receive with traditional microscopes in her classroom, which especially makes a difference for our low-income students who have less opportunities than their peers. Lauren is intentional about giving her students hands-on learning experiences that involve technology integration so all students can experience STEM learning. She believes all students can learn and technology can be a powerful tool for making every student feel worthy of being important and contributing to our ever-changing tech society. She makes science fun and is innovative in a way that science class was not several years ago. Lauren has modeled how to move from traditional teaching of lecturing with textbooks to using technology as a way to introduce real-world applications and science phenomena. We teach the same kids and I have never seen students this excited to go to science class!

Lauren is also a leader that inspires all of us to encourage a STEM mindset in our classrooms. This year, she led a professional development session for our colleagues to help them understand how they can use STEM education and technology to help our students think critically and problem solve. I have seen so many teachers at our school become more confident in using technology and making a difference in their classrooms because Lauren’s passion for STEM radiates throughout our school. She takes her personal time to aid teachers in brainstorming and lesson planning. She is an inspiring educator and her colleagues aim to be more like her each day.

Lauren’s current project is building an outdoor classroom for students to use hands-on real world applications to promote a healthier world for us to live in. She will use this outdoor space to test water and soil samples with the latest technological devices that read various ecological factors to help students determine if the ecosystems around them are healthy. In the past few years, we teachers have experienced the power of technology and we are eager to fill learning gaps. Lauren spearheaded this project to help provide at-risk students in our community with an outdoor learning space where they can explore and develop the 21st-century skills needed to advance them into their future. STEM is undoubtedly one of her passions and technology is woven into each of her lessons as if it is the thread that holds her classroom together.

If you visit Lauren’s classroom, it is easy to see that she positively impacts her students immensely! It seems the students are doing something different each day, from participating in game-based lessons and going on virtual field trips, to using interactive platforms that allow students to communicate information to each other during their lesson. Lauren rarely has any issues managing behavior in her classroom because students are always very eager to participate in the lessons and lab activities she plans for them. Our students have an increased motivation because of the way she supports their learning every day. She encourages her students and tells them they can accomplish anything. I recently watched her provide each of her students with a lab coat to wear while they record from the devices they use to take data. She said she believes in the power of having students envision themselves as scientists while they use the technology available to them. It is remarkable to watch her foster our students’ self-esteem and help them understand that they, too, can become great engineers and scientists.

She provides rigor in her classroom and requires students to think critically with inquiry-based lessons. Not only does she use technology in the classroom, she asks her students to create tech solutions to problems in our world. For example, Lauren assigns a project each year where her students are asked to identify an ecological problem, research, analyze data and then create a solution to the problem they are highlighting.This project-based learning activity inspires our students to become knowledgeable about current technological advances in the field they are studying while looking into the future for the possibilities they can create themselves.

Lauren is a leader in technology and in all aspects of her daily life. Her use of technology not only brings out her passions, but helps her students discover their own passions in learning. It is incredible to watch the impact she makes each day. If you are looking for the perfect candidate for this award, you have absolutely found her.