Melissa Unger is a 2024-2025 Teach Plus Pennsylvania Policy Fellow. She is a K-2 Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) teacher at South Fayette Elementary School in Pittsburgh, building her district’s K-2 STEAM program. She is the winner of the Carnegie Science Center Most Inspiring Educator award (2021) and finalist for the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year (2023). She co-authored “Capturing Creativity: 20+ Easy Ways to Bring Low-Tech STEAM into Your Classroom,” has a YouTube channel that connects students and teachers to low-tech STEAM challenges, created STEAM content for Public Broadcasting System (PBS), and provides STEM opportunities for female students. Melissa is a member of Agency by Design Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and Technology (PAECT). She earned undergraduate degrees in English education and instructional technology from Duquesne University, her MEd in STEM education from California University of Pennsylvania, and EdD from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
