STEAM Teachers give students a voice in the community.
This spring STEAM teacher Kristin Szelingowski, helped connect 2nd and 3rd Grade students in the Livingston School District to the community work being undertaken by Livingston Township for the Open Space and Recreation Plan at the Licari, Orchard Hill and Strahman I & II sites.
Livingston educators have designed a STEAM curriculum to connect students to a community problem and challenged them to design a playground that was physically, socially and emotionally inviting. The students worked to research existing playgrounds, and explore solutions using the design loop process.
The work was given additional meaning when their designs were presented in a video to Mayor Shawn Klein explaining their concepts, design process and ideas about how community play spaces could look.
Mayor Klein invited Mrs Szelingowski, Max Shen and Dylan Zhang, 3rd Grade students at Hillside Elementary School, to present the designs that they and their peers created and present them at Livingston Town Hall. Mayor Klein helped place the students work in the context of the open space plans and emphasize the importance of the views of young people.
These opportunities to link the work of students to real projects in their community help recognize the importance of student voice and provide an authentic audience so that students are engaged and see that their work has real world value.
LivGreen is here to support the facilitation of these connections and the teachers, like Kristin Szelingowski, who work so hard to provide engaging education. We hope that Max, Dylan and all their class mates know their ideas and opinions matter now! Students can watch the feedback presentation here.
Age is not a barrier and we hope students of all grades will engage with their community. Your ideas are important.
Related Links:
Livingston Open Space and Recreation Plan Meeting Part 2 12/2025
