Longtime Robertson Elementary School teacher Kristen Noonan was met with a surprise as she began her 11:05 class on animation on Tuesday- a statewide award.

Noonan, an art teacher, was chosen as this year’s recipient of the 2023 Elementary Educator STEAM Award, given out by the Rhode Island STEAM Center at Rhode Island College and the PPL Foundation.

STEAM, (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), has been a focus of Noonan.

 “All the things that I’ve done here have really been inspired by the great kids at Robertson,” she said. “Their enthusiasm for art has pushed me to want to continue to grow as a teacher. I try to set an example for them, that they can continue learning and love learning.”

The award was presented by Lisa Bain of the Rhode Island STEAM Center at Rhode Island College and Ted Kresse of Rhode Island Energy, representing PPL. Along with the award, Noonan is receiving a STEM Educator Award from PPL, which comes with a $1,000 grant for class equipment and materials, as well as an additional personal grant.

Kresse said that Noonan’s work was critical to getting students involved and interested in jobs in rapidly changing and evolving fields.

 “We need to fill up that bench and get kids mentored and interested in the field, because there are a lot of changes coming,” he said.

According to Kresse, the animation skills that Noonan was teaching in her lesson plan that day were ones that engineers for Rhode Island Energy were using on a daily basis.

Noonan’s mother, Carol Maynard, was at the school to celebrate the occasion as were Noonan’s two children Catie and Sean. Also in attendance were Superintendent Lynn Dambruch, School Committee members Shaun Galligan and Leah Hazelwood, Director of Elementary Education Patti Cousineau, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Lisa Schultz, Director of Technology Jeffrey Taylor and STEM Specialist in the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE)’s Office of Instruction, Assessment and Curriculum Carolyn Higgins.

Dambruch, who was the principal at Robertson from 1996 to 2014, first met Noonan when she started there, and said that she was “always an amazing educator,” and always found ways to incorporate science and technology into her art lessons.

“She really listens to the students and gives them choices, and really helps make connections,” Dambruch said.

Noonan’s classroom, also known as the STEAM lab, is one of seven “innovative spaces” throughout Warwick’s elementary and middle schools. Those spaces were funded by grants from the Rhode Island Department of Education, and Noonan thanked Robertson principal Brian Dillon for helping create the new teaching space.

“I also have to thank Mr. Dillon, because he’s just shown me a great deal of respect for the things that I’ve done, and kind of given me the keys to the car and let me stay up ‘till midnight,” Noonan said. “It’s been great to have the freedom to design a space that is for kids.”

The STEAM Award was given out in honor of Carol Giuriceo, the STEAM Center’s former director who died in 2021. Giuriceo was integral in starting the awards, according to RIDE’s website, the first of which was given out in 2019.

This was the first year in which the STEAM Award was split between elementary and secondary educators. Winners of this year’s STEAM Awards at the middle and high school levels were Michelle Conary Brittain of Chariho Middle School and Corinne Gelinas of North Providence High School.