Garfield Middle School steam team qualifies for Atlantic City final, wins category awards

Garfield Middle School’s STEAM team placed in the top three statewide in the New Jersey School Boards Association’s STEAM Tank competition and will travel to Atlantic City this October to compete for a $10,000 prize.

"It is my pleasure to be here this evening to celebrate our middle school team," coach Jennifer DeWitt told the board, noting that more than 500 teams competed statewide and that the Garfield team’s prototype was a functional, collapsible, environmentally responsible portable sink. DeWitt said professional judges recognized the team’s use of the engineering design process and its presentation skills.

Coach Alexandra Talzma told the board the team—competing under the name In Sync—received additional recognitions for arts, entrepreneurship, human-built environment, collaboration with third-party experts, public health and safety, and sustainability. The district said the state semifinal placement qualifies the team to compete against two other top teams in Atlantic City for the $10,000 prize sponsored by the Educational Leadership Foundation.

The board presented certificates to team members named in the meeting record, including: Raffia Yocus (also called Beza), Amelia Czarnecki, Ernest Abrigua, Kaleida Orzaz, Zatha Kayali, and Victoria Bautista. Coaches thanked administrators and the board for program support.

Board members congratulated the students and coaches and said they looked forward to seeing the team represent Garfield in the fall.

The district said the prize money, if won, is intended to support future STEAM programming districtwide.