JASON Learning has received two awards from the 2022 Best of STEM Awards. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators name the best products and services that meet the evolving needs of STEM teaching and learning. JASON Learning won in two categories:

  • Social Impact Award: Developing Citizen Scientists through with its Design and Pitch Challenges with North Carolina State University, which teaches students how solve a series of challenges like entrepreneurs.
  • Trailblazer: Early Learning (Pre-K–6) with its Early Childhood STEM Program. Which has opportunities for exploration and play, connections to math, music and art, and teacher resources.

As educators face a new generation of technology needs for teaching and learning STEM, science, and coding, companies are rising to the challenge by deeply understanding educators’ evolving needs. The 2022 Best of STEM Award provides EdTech companies with an awards program judged by STEM educators for STEM educators. EdTech—short for education technology—refers to new technology, both hardware and software, designed to expand teacher-led learning in classrooms and improve students’ education and knowledge.

According to the educator judge for the Social Impact: Developing Citizen Scientists Award, “Through nine Design and Pitch Challenges, students learn how to launch, design, research, create a prototype, justify the purpose, and pitch while creating something new throughout the process,” the judges say.

The educator judge for the Trailblazer: Early Learning Award found JASON’s Early Childhood STEM Program to be a robust resource designed to ignite children’s curiosity with a platform that has an array of lessons that incorporate all areas of STEM.

“We’re very excited for JASON Learning to be recognized in this way,” says Andy Wahl of TAV Holdings Inc., co-chair of ISRI’s Youth Outreach Subcommittee. The subcommittee provides guidance for ISRI’s partnership with JASON Learning, including K-12 recycling curriculum development, review, and distribution; annual video and poster contest implementation; school pilot programs; and other related efforts.

“I’m very excited that JASON Learning has received this recognition,” says Peter Van Houten of Bob’s Metals Inc. and co-chair of ISRI’s Youth Outreach Subcommittee. “The partnership between ISRI and JASON has been a huge success in changing the perception of recycling not only as the students tackle the interactive, hands-on curriculum, but also when they share the activities and discoveries from the classroom with their families at home.”

The ISRI-JASON Learning partnership helps promote career opportunities in the recycling industry and helps expand knowledge and awareness of the impact and outputs of recycling. “ISRI and JASON Learning have effectively provided education and information about the recycling industry to the next generation of recyclers in our schools so that they can learn to preserve natural resources for the future,” Wahl adds.

Photo by Patricia Prudente on Unsplash.

Hannah Zuckerman

Hannah Zuckerman

Hannah is a Writer & Editor for ISRI's Scrap News. She's interested in a wide range of topics in the recycling industry and is always eager to learn more. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College, where she majored in History and a minored in Creative Writing. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband.