Program Director

Leah Plack’s interest in science education began when she taught kindergarten in San Francisco, and watched her students light up as they engaged with wiggly worms, cars and ramps, and building and testing their own designs. Her passion for STEM education and teacher leadership led to becoming a Science Teacher on Special Assignment for the San Francisco Unified School District. After moving to Oregon and completing her Master of Science Teaching at Portland State, she continued her work in developing and facilitating STEM-related teacher PD and began taking on more project coordination roles as well. Currently, Leah is a Program Director for the Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP), developing and overseeing projects under the umbrellas of Early Learning, Community STEAM and justice-centered Mathematics instruction.

Aside from geeking out about work-related topics like the learning sciences and STEAM education, Leah is passionate about gardening with native plants, moving through the outdoors in various human-powered ways, cooking delicious food, camping, and spending time with her husband and daughter doing all of the above. She currently serves on the City of Portland Urban Forestry Commission.