BAYONNE – For the second week in a row, a crowd gathered at Bayonne High School to honor the school’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) track, part of the school’s Academy of Fine Arts and Academics which opened last year.
On Thursday, Oct. 23, U.S. Representative Albio Sires joined Mayor James Davis to honor the STEM program, which had its official opening two weeks ago.
Also on hand were Schools Superintendent Patricia McGeehan, School Business Administrator Leo Smith, Board of Education President William Lawson, BHS Principal Richard Baccarella, and STEM Academy teachers and students.
The high school received the 2014 STEM Education Certificate, sponsored by We Work for Health New Jersey in conjunction with the Mayors’ Committee on Life Sciences and the New Jersey League of Municipalities.
Davis is a member of the Life Sciences Committee. Bayonne is the only town in Sires’s district represented on the body.
Dean Paranicas, chief executive officer of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey and co-chair of We Work for Health, spoke and stressed the need for developing the state’s leaders in the STEM disciplines.
Bayonne High School has been recognized with seven other high schools in New Jersey that are making STEM education a priority.
The Mayors’ group was formed in 2010. It was the brainchild of late U.S Representative Bob Franks.