FULL ‘STREAM’ AHEAD!

Holy Spirit School in East Greenbush wins prestigious Fordham award

Principal Kelly Leverone (l.) and Maria Collins, STEM teacher, show off their Fordham University Executive Leadership Award for Excellence in STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Education. (Photos provided)

Holy Spirit School in East Greenbush was a recent proud recipient of the 2026 Fordham University Executive Leadership Award for Excellence in STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Education for its growing STREAM program. 

Holy Spirit’s program is a separate elective offered to all Holy Spirit students, pre-K3 through Grade 5, that integrates science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with religion and the arts into lessons, projects and daily instruction. Fordham’s Center for Catholic School Leadership and Faith-Based Education honors schools that demonstrate visionary leadership and excellence in faith-based education.

Kelly Leverone, principal, and Maria Collins, Holy Spirit’s STEM teacher, accepted the award at Fordham University’s Catholic School Executive Leadership Dinner on May 28, along with several other Catholic dioceses. 

“To be surrounded by an organization, a university, that I have so much respect for was humbling,” Leverone said. “We’re from Holy Spirit in East Greenbush, and look, we’re here at Fordham!”

Students show off their constructed plant nursery bases they 3D printed in class.

The school’s program was recognized thanks to a nomination by Dr. Christopher Bott, diocesan superintendent of schools. Leverone was touched that he and the Catholic School Office recognized the work they were doing. 

“For them to recognize the value of (the program) was just meaningful because I respect them as educators and leaders,” she added. “For them to recognize how important it is for us, and how good we are at it, we would never toot our own horn, but I want people to know. For someone else to spotlight it meant something.”

“On behalf of the Diocese of Albany Catholic schools, I extend my congratulations to Holy Spirit School principal Kelly Leverone and teacher Maria Collins on this well-deserved recognition from Fordham University,” Bott said in an email to The Evangelist. “Their leadership and vision have created a STREAM program that inspires students to think critically, solve problems creatively, and appreciate the beauty of God’s creation through science, technology, religion, engineering, the arts and mathematics. This award is a testament not only to their dedication but also to the collaborative spirit of the entire Holy Spirit School community. We are proud to see Holy Spirit School recognized as a model of excellence in Catholic education.”

Leverone got the idea to add the special elective into the school schedule when she took over as principal in 2023, noting that she felt like “the kids needed more.” 

“There has been an explosion of teaching children to be creative thinkers and builders and have hands-on exploration and to support the learning that is going on in the classroom with science, math and technology,” she added.

Students construct structures using straws (part of a Strawbees STEAM kit).

The course, while colloquially called STEM by the school, still includes all the parts of STREAM (religion and art) that are organically baked into Collins’ lesson plans

“We thought about that: Why aren’t we calling it STREAM?” Leverone said. “All of us have the ‘R’ in whatever we do here because it’s who we are.”

 “I was not the art teacher,” Collins laughed. “But the aesthetics are always a part of it, and as a Catholic school, religion is always part of it. We see the potential in every child. The hope is to help them grow to that. You are wonderfully and fearfully made, and you have the power to change the world around you.”

Collins was teaching pre-K3 when she was approached by Leverone about taking over the new program. The school began offering STEM in the 2023-24 school year and has been expanding it ever since. 

Collins’ lessons have included students making paper circuits with light-up LEDs to learn about electric current; using LEGOs to build houses, animals or planes without direction or instruction; making flag poles to teach about simple machines like pulleys; or 3D printing objects that students design and structure. 

Each class is adjusted to the grade level Collins is working with. For her younger grades, Collins taught students to use pipettes to fill egg cartons with different watercolors. The project helped teach the little ones about fine motor skills, but also introduced color theory on how to obtain a specific green or blue. 

“It’s all the concepts, it’s all science, but it’s also where they are appropriately in their academic development, and to make it as fun as possible,” Collins said. 

Students work with squishy circuits using Play-Doh-like substances to explore conductive materials, and race boats they designed and constructed down a gutter.

The biggest impact Collins has tried to have on her classes is to ignite each student’s “wonder and curiosity” because “that is what sets us on a path of discovery.”

“Wonder and curiosity, those are my big ones,” she said, “and then how do we make a difference. Helping kids to see that they have the power to change the world, in big and small ways.”

Leverone said she first saw the program’s impact on her teachers. 

“The first thing I noticed was the teachers and how they were just seeing the enjoyment in the children talking about the things that they’re doing in STEM,” she said. “To hear the kids talking about the projects they have, we have a ‘Show What You Know Fair’ in the spring, and a lot of the projects they chose to show are the projects they’ve learned to think and create and process in STEM.”

Now, STEM operates as an integral part of the Holy Spirit experience. Collins recalled a group of third graders asking her to 3D-print an award they designed for their teacher. 

“They made an award for their teacher; they had frogs in their classroom, so they made this award that had a frog on it that said, ‘Best Teacher Ever,’ and I said, of course, I can print that for you!” she said. “Giving them a chance to build their own skills and follow  their enthusiasm is really exciting.”