News Detail

Engineers Win Four National Awards

Scheck Hillel engineering teams won four awards on the national stage at the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) Innovation Day on Monday. The national competition showcased 400 projects from 42 schools, with over a thousand students competing. Congratulations to all participating students and their Design/STEM Engineering teacher, Sabrina Ferster ‘00.

Scheck Hillel Award Categories and Winners:
(All winners are ‘25)

1st Place: Engineering for Pets
"The Doogie" 
Max Benarroch, Alexander Schpilberg, Aquiba Serfati

2nd Place: Engineering for Transportation
"Blink"
Daniel Biton, Ben Gililov, Benjamin Herschman

3rd Place: Engineering for Assistive Technology
"ExploWalker"
Taly Birnbaum, Sadie Lemmer, Sara Chaya Sterental 

3rd Place: Engineering for Entertainment & Arts
"LightReacts"
Alan Benacerraf, Eric Wainer  

Scheck Hillel’s Design/STEM Engineering Honors track is a two-year course for students who qualify, designed to develop analytical, critical and creative thinking skills. Students explore engineering concepts and lab safety relating to building projects - all in the context of developing problem-solving, research and design skills. They then design an engineering capstone project which addresses a real world need. The project is interdisciplinary in nature, and helps students develop soft skills such as teamwork, time management, research, reporting and presenting. The teamwork requires both a division of labor and independent learning. The teacher serves as a guide - directing, assessing, suggesting. Students must become comfortable with “not-knowing”, exploring, testing ideas, setbacks, and learning from mistakes. This approach creates a learning community of reciprocity between teachers and students and allows for the development of independent learning by students.
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