Gerald Ardito, Assistant Chair and Assistant Professor of STEM-D at Pace’s School of Education, is the recipient of two local awards.
The Northeast STEM Starter Academy (NSSA) at Mt. Vernon and the White Plains Youth Bureau both recognized Ardito for his involvement with STEM programs targeted to young minorities in the area. For the past few years, Ardito has been responsible for designing and leading these STEM programs, particularly focused on young minority men.
“The work with these programs and especially these children has been very rewarding and meaningful to me,” Ardito said. “I am humbled to receive this recognition.”
In White Plains, Ardito oversees a “Saturday Science” program for 4th through 8th graders. Students get exposed to Scientific Investigations and Computer Programming. The White Plains Youth Bureau award acknowledged Ardito as a STEM leader.
In Mt. Vernon, Ardito has designed and coordinated rigorous STEM enrichment programs for high school boys in computer programming and robotics. The NSAA program is focused on improving outcomes for high risk children in the area. Ardito received this award in acknowledgement for his work with the program. NSAA is seeking to expand these opportunities through a set of grants which would provide training and development in STEM education for Mt. Vernon teachers.
“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on the programs from parents, community members and school districts in both areas,” Ardito said. “It is my hope to continue working with these programs. Planning is underway and I think this next year is going to be very exciting.”
Dr. Ardito has been working in Education for almost three decades. His experience includes adult education, adolescent biology and most recently, higher education.
