SNSTA Leadership

Pilar Forero Taylor

Director, Stiles-Nicholson STEM Teacher Academy

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FAU Lab Schools

777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431

Contact Pilar

Pilar Forero Taylor, Ph.D.  is the Director of the Stiles-Nicholson STEM Teacher Academy for FAU/FAU Lab Schools. Pilar’s professional goal is “to engage educators by implementing innovative pedagogical approaches that will lead their students to become lifelong learners of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, enabling them to meet the challenges & opportunities of the 21st century.”

A native of Bogota, Colombia, Pilar began her formal education in the US as an English language learner where she was inspired and motivated by dedicated teachers who encouraged not only her mastery of the English language, but her own journey as an educator and lifelong learner. In her previous role as the Student Achievement Coordinator for FAU Lab Schools, Pilar oversaw the National Merit initiative and was instrumental in preparing the growing number of students for their National Merit Scholar applications. Pilar developed & implemented the Henderson Scholars Program, aimed at providing middle school students a highly accelerated academic foundation as they plan for their future high school & postsecondary goals. Pilar began her professional career after earning a B.S. in Business Management from FAU and worked as a marketing executive with international technology corporations offering product marketing strategies to business leaders. In 2001, Pilar made a career change into education while completing her M.Ed in Educational Psychology at FAU. For the twenty years that followed, she taught at local independent schools holding roles of: lead middle and high school math teacher, gifted mathematics curriculum coordinator, high school math competition sponsor, faculty educational technology trainer, head middle school track coach, cross country coach, and sponsored middle school student council. Her dissertation and research interests are centered around intrinsic motivation through a Self-Determination Theory lens with her passion centered around brain-based learning and STEM education.

 

Business Council Roundtable

The SNSTA Business Council Roundtable, consists of  South Florida distinguished C-level corporate executives, informing the development of curriculum and teaching tools aligned to corporate-centric workforce needs. The business council roundtable is an outgrowth of the SNSTA in partnership with Florida Atlantic University Schools K-12 (FAUS) , A.D. Henderson University School and FAU High School , a world-class public-school district with a proven track record in STEM education, research, and entrepreneurship. With ambitious goals of redesigning teacher preparation and producing career-ready students in the STEM fields, the Stiles-Nicholson STEM Teacher Academy is a force multiplier impacting thousands of students statewide. 

 

Shiva L Ahrens, Ph.D.

Principal Research Scientist, Florida Crystals Corporation

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Hannah Herbst

CEO & 2015 Discovery 3M Top Young Scientist -Tiburon Technologies, LLC.

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MaryLynn Magar

Vice President, Heartcare Imaging, Inc & Former Speaker pro tempore, FL House of Representatives 

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