Last week, our Associate Director of Government Programs and STEM Director, Adam Katz, attended the 2025 CIJE STEM Innovation Day Competition at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey. Judging about 50 teams of high schoolers, Adam saw the gamut of inventions from Jewish Day schools and Yeshiva students from around the country.
Students were excited, motivated, and enthusiastic to share their engineering marvels using coding, robotics, AI, and more. Inventions ranged from devices to save people from choking, to AI-directed fire protection, to helping those with autism express their feelings. The students poured their hearts into their inventions, dedicating themselves to learning advanced STEM techniques and bringing their ideas to life.
Adam judged teams from many member schools, including HAFTR, SAR, DRS, SKA, TABC, and many more, and hundreds of other teams competed. Not only do the schools receive incredible mentorship, curricula, and other resources from CIJE, but the NYS and NJ schools also receive significant STEM funding that helps them fund and build out their STEM operations. The NYS schools received reimbursements for the salaries of qualified teachers, while NJ schools have highly qualified public school STEM teachers teaching their students, paid for by the State of NJ. Between the work of Teach NJ/NY and CIJE, we are elevating, enhancing, and expanding STEM education, inspiring students and preparing them for successful future careers in STEM.
Innovation Day Winners will pitch their products at a CIJE Shark Tank event in an opportunity to gain funding and additional opportunities. They will also have guidance from mentors and other to actually further develop their products with the hope of actually bringing their inventions to market. Who knows, maybe soon you’ll have a product in your own home invented by these very students!