Stephanie Silverman ‘00 Named 2026 National Outstanding Design Educator of the Year
The Design Interest Group (DIG) of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) has recognized Archmere alumna and teacher Stephanie Silverman ‘00 with the National Outstanding Design Educator of the Year Award. This award of distinction recognizes an individual for their exemplary contributions to the field of Design Education and/or their advocacy of Design and Design Education. A National Board-Certified Art educator and leader in the field of Design Education, Stephanie has presented original design curriculum, best practices, and design thinking methodologies seven times at the national level at the National Art Education National Convention. Silverman’s design students have won a record number of Scholastic Art Awards across design categories including Fashion, Jewelry, Design, Architectural, and Industrial Design for the past five years (75 in total) for the State of Delaware, including a record number of awards in the category of Architectural & Industrial Design and Fashion Design (2025).
Silverman will be honored at the NAEA Convention in Chicago, IL in March 2026, where she will also be presenting her chapter for a forthcoming book on Design Education with Dr. Robin Vande Zande, an instructional resource that provides K-12 teachers with strategies and pedagogical practices for implementing design-based learning in their classrooms.
“One of my favorite things about working at Archmere is the autonomy and freedom of creative interdisciplinary curriculum design that allows me to infuse both my art and design skillsets into my courses. I teach traditional studio art courses, but I also have a degree in Furniture & Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and I love that I can teach courses in traditional studio art disciplines such as painting and drawing, as well as classes that blend my background in 3D design into the program.”
Senior Ethan Beach ‘26 commented on the rigor and college-level pacing of the AP3D Design course, stating, “I actually like how the deadlines and structure of the class keep us on pace with planning our projects to ensure that our portfolios will be complete for the College Board deadline. I also really like the free range of being able to design and build whatever I want, whatever I imagine.”
Students can explore a variety of design-based disciplines in the Archmere Art & Design program, from architectural design to fashion, graphic design, and 3D printing. The recently upgraded Design Lab on the second floor of the Manor was a student-driven initiative, and was created last year in response to a burgeoning interest in 3D design. The space includes a 3D printer, power tools, and a vast array of model making materials to support student design work. The initiative to create a dedicated Design Lab space for 3D model making, 3D printing and prototyping was spearheaded by Roman Guerrieri ‘25, now studying Entrepreneurship & Integrated Design at the University of Delaware.
Explains Silverman, “Design is simply a systematic process of creative problem solving. The design thinking process can be applied to any creative challenge, whether it is a chair, a suspension bridge, fashion design, or an original book cover design. Once students internalize the design thinking process, it becomes automatic, and they systematically solve creative challenges with agility and confidence. And that’s when it gets really exciting for me as an educator, when I see them working with autonomy and creative agency. Design is also inherently interdisciplinary…students are integrating geometry and math as they work in scale for technical drawings and models and as they measure and cut materials, and even science as they look to forms and structures in nature as sources of inspiration, as in the honeycomb desk organizer designed by Mason Kohl ‘26.
“Our recent interdisciplinary curricular focus on design and creative career pathways in the Art & Design department supports students in their pursuit of art and design-based careers ranging from fashion to architecture to industrial design. As we have expanded curricular scope to infuse design based electives in the program, more students are pursuing creative and design-based majors in college. The incredible design portfolios these students create in our program, along with their recognition both regionally and nationally in the Scholastic Art Awards program, gives them a competitive advantage in the college admissions process to study art and design at the colleges and universities of their choice. Significantly, five members of the Class of 2025 (Caeli McAlonon ‘25 (SCAD), Jace Walker ‘25 (RISD), Michael Burgo ‘25 (NJIT), Roman Guerrieri ‘25 (U of D) and Rylon O’Donnell ‘25 (Drexel) chose to pursue creative and design-based careers in college.
Explains Silverman, “Design is simply a systematic process of creative problem solving. The design thinking process can be applied to any creative challenge, whether it is a chair, a suspension bridge, fashion design, or an original book cover design. Once students internalize the design thinking process, it becomes automatic, and they systematically solve creative challenges with agility and confidence. And that’s when it gets really exciting for me as an educator, when I see them working with autonomy and creative agency. Design is also inherently interdisciplinary…students are integrating geometry and math as they work in scale for technical drawings and models and as they measure and cut materials, and even science as they look to forms and structures in nature as sources of inspiration, as in the honeycomb desk organizer designed by Mason Kohl ‘26.
“I believe that understanding the design process and its application to creative problem solving is an essential 21st century skill. It teaches students interdisciplinary, agile and analogic thinking applied to the context of authentic, interdisciplinary real-world problem solving. As one recent example, it has been really fun and exciting to team up with Archmere science teacher JR Creekmore and his Engineering Design Practicum class to offer a collaborative interdisciplinary lecture with Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) bridge engineers, since both of us have students exploring bridge design in our courses. I’d love to see us put together a team of students from both my AP3D Design class and his Engineering Design Practicum class to compete in the DelDOT high school bridge design competition this spring.”
“A central focus of my pedagogical practice is the development of creative confidence, self efficacy, and a sense of agency…a “can do spirit” in my students, so that they have the courage to imagine alternatives, and use their creativity to improve the world. Design education is one more way I can help Archmere students to be prepared for “every good work,” as Archmere’s mission states, by developing and leveraging their creative capacity to improve their world. For me, there is nothing more exciting or rewarding than when I see the sense of accomplishment in my students when they have made their ideas materialize, and when they take pride in what they have created with their hard work and perseverance. It is the greatest joy and privilege to work with students to cultivate their curiosity, support their imaginative capacity, and impart whatever technical skills I have in support of their creative vision. I feel so lucky to be a part of that magical process.”
No surprisingly, her students feel the same. Giancarlo Flaherty ‘26 states of the class, “I like how we can work on anything we want during class, and we have a really good course with lots of resources and materials - I know we are really lucky to have a program that is so well resourced; lots of schools don’t have a program like this and so I feel really fortunate.”
Congratulations to Mrs. Silverman on this incredible honor!
No surprisingly, her students feel the same. Giancarlo Flaherty ‘26 states of the class, “I like how we can work on anything we want during class, and we have a really good course with lots of resources and materials - I know we are really lucky to have a program that is so well resourced; lots of schools don’t have a program like this and so I feel really fortunate.”
Congratulations to Mrs. Silverman on this incredible honor!
Archmere Academy is a private, Catholic, college preparatory co-educational academy,
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
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