Engineers Week aims to increase student awareness about engineering as a career choice thru classroom visits to our local Elementary, Middle & High Schools. Each visit consists of a brief introduction to what Engineering is, followed by a hands-on project that the students participate in.
To volunteer, either find the school you wish to visit below by emailing the coordinator, or click the following link to go to the visit calendar google sheet:
District School Coordinator E-Mail Address
Arlington Arlington High School OPEN msperlin@us.ibm.com
Arlington Beekman Elem. OPEN msperlin@us.ibm.com
Arlington Lagrange MS Peter Fatzinger fatz@us.ibm.com
Arlington Arthur S. May Elem. Angel Merchan aamercha@us.ibm.com
Arlington Noxon Elem. Mike Todd todd@us.ibm.com
Arlington Noxon Elem. Patrick Bell patrick.bell@onsemi.com
Arlington Overlook Elem. OPEN msperlin@us.ibm.com
Arlington Titusville IS Uma Srinivasan umasrin@us.ibm.com
Arlington Traver Road Brian Berry Brian.Berry@kyndryl.com
Arlington Unionvale MS Dan Jacobs dhjacobs@us.ibm.com
Arlington Vail Farm Elem. Clay Beattie cbeattie@us.ibm.com
Arlington Vail Farm Elem. Monimala Mukherjee mmukher@us.ibm.com
Beacon Glenham Elementary Kyle Giamportone Kyle.Giamportone@ibm.com
Beacon HS/MS/Elementaries Laura Sperling lmdaniel@us.ibm.com
Brewster,Somers High School JoAnn Ragozzino-Higgins jo@us.ibm.com
Carmel Carmel Schools Donna Stenger dsimone@us.ibm.com
Cornwall Cornwall Schools Nicole D'Ambrosio nicole.dambrosio@ibm.com
Danbury,CT Danbury High School Brandon Tyndale Brandon.Tyndale@ibm.com
Dover Dover Schools Ruth Murphy rumurphy@us.ibm.com
Hendrick Hudson Julie Katsev julie.katsev@onsemi.com
Highland Highland High Joanne Crimi crimi@us.ibm.com
Highland Highland Middle Alexandra Medina ajmedina@us.ibm.com
Highland Highland Elementary Tanya S Buchanan tanyana@us.ibm.com
Hyde Park Hyde Park Schools Deborah Odell debbyt@us.ibm.com
Kingston Kingston Schools (co) Justin Spotts jmspotts@us.ibm.com
Kingston Kingston Schools (co) Matthew Pisano MatthewPisano@ibm.com
Mahopac Fulmar Elementary Ekta Misra emisra@us.ibm.com
Mahopac Mahopac High George Samuels George.Samuels.II@ibm.com
Marlboro Marlboro High Jake Mazza jacob.mazza@onsemi.com
Marlboro Marlboro Middle John J. Cantone jcantone55@gmail.com
Middletown Middletown Schools OPEN msperlin@us.ibm.com
Milbrook Milbrook Schools Brian Erwin erwinb@us.ibm.com
Montgomery Montgomery Elementary John Paulus John.Paulus@onsemi.com
New Paltz New Paltz Schools Thomas Hawkins tomh@us.ibm.com
Newburgh Balmville Kyle Villano Kyle.Villano@ibm.com
Newburgh Meadow Hill Pasquale Catalano pacatala@us.ibm.com
Newburgh Newburgh Schools OPEN msperlin@us.ibm.com
Onteora Onteora Schools Willy Wilson willyw@us.ibm.com
Pawling Pawling Schools OPEN msperlin@us.ibm.com
Peekskill Peekskill Schools OPEN msperlin@us.ibm.com
Pine Plains Cold Spring Elementary Seth Knickerbocker sknicke@us.ibm.com
Poughkeepsie Krieger Elementary Tanya Buchanan tanyana@us.ibm.com
Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie Schools Ade Owolabi Adeoye.O.Owolabi@ibm.com
Red Hook Linden Middle Joseph Bostian jbostian@us.ibm.com
Red Hook HS, Mill Rd. Elem. Megan Boyd megboyd@us.ibm.com
Rhinebeck Chancellor Livingston Lisa Heller cranton@us.ibm.com
Rondout Rondout Schools Michael Gerhart mgerhart@us.ibm.com
Saugerties Elementary Schools Lisa Case lisacase@us.ibm.com
Saugerties Saugerties Middle/High Alex Feinberg feinberg@us.ibm.com
Sherman, CT Sherman School John Tarby jtarby@us.ibm.com
Spackenkill Hagen Elementary Zhiying Chen Zhiying.Chen@ibm.com
Spackenkill Nassau Elementary Kevin McKenzie kmckenzi@us.ibm.com
Spackenkill Todd Middle + HS Mark Demarie mldemarie@us.ibm.com
Wallkill Plattekill Elementary Keila Camacho Martinez kymc@us.ibm.com
Wallkill Wallkill Schools Pasquale Catalano pacatala@us.ibm.com
Walden Walden Elementary Elaine Krakower adamsea@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Brinkerhoff OPEN jedrummond@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Evans Elem. Eric Rossman edrossma@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Fishkill Elem Kavita Sehgal sehgal@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Fishkill Plains OPEN jedrummond@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Gayhead Elem. Raymond Wong raywong@us.ibm.com
Wappingers John Jay Melissa Keefe Melissa.Keefe@ibm.com
Wappingers Ketcham HS Wynter Chen Wynter.Chen@ibm.com
Wappingers Myers + Junior High Alexandra Echegaray torresal@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Oak Grove Jayshree Shah shahj@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Sheafe Elem. Mike Gildein megildei@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Van Wyck JHS Travis Menard tmenard18@gmail.com
Wappingers Kinry + Vassar Rd. Michael Sperling msperlin@us.ibm.com
Wappingers Lead John Drummond jedrummond@us.ibm.com
Washingtonville Elementary Jeanette Bender jeannette.bender@ibm.com
Westbury Westbury HS Alex Zavala alex.vazquez.zavala@ibm.com
Woodstock Woodstock Day Luke N Buschmann lnbuschm@us.ibm.com
private Gathering Church David Robertson d.roberts@ibm.com
private Faith Christian Alexandra Scolaro alegar@us.ibm.com
private Harmony Christian Kevin Anderson kevin.anderson2@ibm.com
private Regina Coeli Mike Bubel bubel@us.ibm.com
private Soundview Preperatory Ruth Murphy rumurphy@us.ibm.com
private Oakwood Friends Aaron Pincus apincus@us.ibm.com
private Holy Trinity Eric Lehner eric.lehner@onsemi.com
private Holy Trinity Robert Dunn strmbrgr@us.ibm.com
private St. Martin de Porres Amy Hirst aspurdy@us.ibm.com
private St. Marys - Fishkill Jennifer M Kozak jkozak@us.ibm.com
Classroom Visit
2-Minute Video on a Robot Goalie: https://tinyurl.com/mhveweek2026
Classroom Project Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z7BC1elm6r3oO2dV16g8a2wCUZhbiXKv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105007363548532283496&rtpof=true&sd=true
General Videos
Crash Course Engineering (3min, Gr. 3-6): www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzMoWhL3kxY
Engineering Taco Party (3min, Gr. 4-8): www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JKx6oGjzbQ
Local Engineer Videos from our New Hires
All Female: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID_AhKQEdfA
General Video #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fov4Xic0QB8
General Video #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgfgI8w6szg
General Video #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBPIdz-lyDo
Video #4 (Pascal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP3YQxfio-0
All videos are around 3 minutes long.
Raw files are also available (contact msperlin@us.ibm.com)
Engineering Presentation (Including IBM Servers)
Engineering & IBM: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11Di4eJh62B9EAe44q8g9CcrWFbh3Hhli/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112023994235539178071&rtpof=true&sd=true
Contact sharonsp@us.ibm.com or msperlin@us.ibm.com to get materials/giveaways, preferably in the afternoon
Video overview of Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak9PDxWZMkU
Project Handout for Youngest Kids (fixed materials) (2nd-3rd):
eWeek2026 Soccer Goalie Elementary.doc
Project Handout for Middle Years (4th to ~6th):
eWeek2026 Soccer Goalie Elementary With Costs.doc
Project Handout for Older Kids (~6th grade +):
eWeek2026 Soccer Goalie MiddleHigh.doc
Material Worksheet for Planning a Visit:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13iepfZmbJxJnq26EzMQR4vL8-CPtShk6/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105007363548532283496&rtpof=true&sd=true
IBM Benevity Volunteer Hour Tracking: https://ibm.benevity.org/volunteer/9257
IBM Academy of Technology Initiative: https://w3.ibm.com/ibm/open-innovation-community/initiatives/69953fb7a1f9e7ca65c528b1
Photo Album to put pictures in: https://photos.app.goo.gl/MJGwcG8k7dcFTfsa8
After your visit, please put # of students and volunteers here:
E-Week Visit Tracking - Coordinator Input.xlsx
Tips for Project:
Don't give out spools of tape! Need to limit otherwise the kids will use A LOT
Tell them they have to have it stand on it's own - show them a piece of paper and ask if it can stand on it's own. Also, the goalie can't be inside or leaning against the goal. Even the 3rd graders were able to build something that met this spec.
Bring a few spoons since they can break during testing (and aluminum foil balls! they get lost)
Leave at least ten minutes for testing - the kids love this and it allows everyone to take two shots on other projects
You can either have teams go head to head if you bought two goals, or have the second team shoot on the first, third team shoot on the second, and on until the first team shoots on the last
Decide if you want to allow the ball to “start” in mid-air (like when heading it) when the shot is taken or if it has to be on the table.
Encourage the kids to bring their supplies up to the goal during design time so they could see how big their supplies are compared to the goal, and to test shooting so they can iterate the design
Key message: Engineering is creative, collaborative and solves important problems in the world
If you're in a high school setting, you may want to skip the project and just talk to the students about college & engineering jobs
Hoop Glider for K-2
Overview: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AgBrzu9CnjvEgRjruZMxl8n1OMej?e=t1L7uM
Template: https://1drv.ms/p/s!AgBrzu9CnjvEgTw_2eF3y8P2I11e?e=wUozPl
Hello <insert name>,
My name is <your name> and I am the volunteer coordinator for your <district/school> for National Engineers Week here in the Hudson Valley.
We are looking to get back to the classrooms this year, so I was hoping to schedule a good day sometime this Spring. As you may remember, we usually visit one class at a time, explaining what Engineering is and then doing a quick hands-on collaborative project with the students. The total time per class can be from 45 minutes up to an hour. All we need to know is a schedule that works for you.
If you have any questions please feel free to reply back.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing you again this Spring!
<your_name>
Hello School Principal Name,
My name is coordinator name, and I am the National Engineers Week (DiscoverE) IBM coordinator for the XXX School District.
Last year, we visited your X grade classes during time period. As always, your students were a pleasure to work with!
or
Unfortunately, we have not been able to work out a visit date with your school in the past, and are hoping to change that this year! Ideally, we would like to meet with the Juniors in Math, Science, or Computer Science classes to talk with them about college in general, and majors/future careers in the fields of math, science, and engineering in particular. Recruiting students into these majors is highly beneficial to both the students and the industry!
DiscoverE is designed to spark an interest in math and science in our community's youth to help them become the engineers of tomorrow. This year's activity should take about an hour of classroom time to complete. Please let me know whether YYY School would be interested in participating in the 2026 Mid-Hudson Valley National Engineers Week (officially in February, but dates are very flexible). If so, please also provide a tentative date and approximate number of classes participating.
Thank you for your time!
Hello School Principal Name,
My name is Coordinator name, and I am the National Engineers Week (DiscoverE) IBM coordinator for the XXX School District. Last year, we visited grades Y-Z at School Name in Time Period. As always, your students were a pleasure to work with!
DiscoverE is designed to spark an interest in math and science in our community's youth to help them become the engineers of tomorrow. This year's activity, "Marble Jump", should take about an hour of classroom time to complete. Please let me know whether YYY School would be interested in participating in the 2026 Mid-Hudson Valley National Engineers Week (officially in February, but dates are very flexible). If so, please also provide a tentative date and approximate number of classes participating.
Thank you for your time!