Friday, March 28, 2025
Q: What are you looking forward to in your new role as STEM Supervisor for the Malverne school district?
Debbie Langone: I’m looking forward to working with STEM on the K-12 level, getting to know the community, building relationships, and working to keep what’s already great here in STEM and continuing to enhance our programs to keep up with the ever-changing world.
Q: How did you become interested in STEM education?
Langone: I come from a family of educators. My mom is a retired administrator and she was a teacher for many years. So, I guess the love for learning is deep rooted in me. She always had an intense passion, which seems to fill me in my life. I always loved science as a student and as I get older, I love just being entrenched in science and working with kids and students.
Q: Can you tell me a bit about your career history? What led you to your current position?
Langone: I’ve been in education about 30 years from that. I have taught on all grade levels, so I taught elementary science programs for ten years. I taught middle school for about nine years. I taught secondary for many years and I also taught college and graduate courses.
My first administrative position was in East Meadow high school, I was chairperson of science 9-12. I did that for seven years. Absolutely loved it. I wanted to extend to a K-12 position so I took a director of science position in West Islip school district. I was in charge of the science and engineering technology curriculum for K-12 in seven different buildings. I did that for four years.
Then my latest position was in the Seaford school district. I was executive director of instructional technology and STEAM K-12. I was in charge of the tech team and infrastructure, and I learned a lot with technology. However my passion is truly in curriculum. So what I’ve learned to love is science and math, and I just wanted to solely focus on science, math, and engineering technology.
Which I’m very happy to be here, to be doing math and science K-12. It’s my true passion to work with teachers, to support teachers so that they can support their students. That’s what I love the most. I love being grassroots, in classrooms, working alongside educators to support students, so that’s what led me to Malverne.
Q: What do you bring to Malverne’s STEM Program?
Langone: Throughout my career I’ve learned that networking is so important, networking with companies and organizations. I’ve networked with engineering companies, such as Lockheed Martin, Curtiss-Wright, Designatronics, making connections for students, opening up doors for mentorship programs, and just bridging students from high school to the real world. I love doing that, and with the direction education is going I think it would be very beneficial to expand on those types of programs here.
I am also very strong in elementary STEM. My dissertation was focused on coaching teachers to support students in STEM education on the elementary level. I feel that infusing students in STEM in early elementary boost their confidence in STEM fields and they’ll be more likely to enjoy science and math. That’s one area that I’m strong in and I’m happy to bring that here for our young scholars.
Q: What are your priorities as you take on this new role?
Langone: Relationships come first. I feel building relationships and trust is so important. I really work alongside teachers to strengthen pedagogical practices in the classroom, at the grassroots level. I think getting to know our community, our community needs, our students, and teacher’s needs are so important. Every community is different and unique, so in the beginning, forming those relationships and learning what the Malverne community is all about, what our strengths are, and what we could do to continue growing is the most important first step.
