TR:TechReady | Toms River Regional School District

TRTechReady Toms River Regional Schools and the Office of Naval Research

In spring 2018, Toms River Regional Schools was awarded the largest competitive grant in district history—a three-year coding project for high school students worth more than $763,000 funded by the federal Office of Naval Research (ONR). Written by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Marc Natanagara, with support from a team of teachers, administrators, and parents, TR:TechReady introduces teachers and students to industry-critical coding languages, most never seen in our schools, and their real world applications. ONR promotes science and technology applications for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and understands the ways in which district, industry, and naval goals can be aligned. TechReady includes free summer coding camps as well as training, activities, competitions, and access to resources throughout the school year.

TR:TechReady in the News

Student Selected for Naval Academy Summer STEM Program

High School North authentic science research (ASR) student Brielle Bell has been selected to participate in the 2021 Naval Academy Virtual Summer STEM Program.
Jun 01, 2021
Coding Boot Camp Includes TR Hackathon

Kickoff sessions take place this week for the TR:TechReady event.
Oct 05, 2020
IEEE STEM Education Conference

Supervisor of Educational Technology and Principal Investigator of the TR:TechReady grant presented to a global audience with collaborative partners on STEM Education and Computing.
Sep 25, 2020
TechReady Code Camps Year 3

Hundreds of students participated in 10 coding camps this summer. Learn more!
Sep 25, 2020
TR:TechReady Virtual Campers Enjoy Special Guest Speaker

Yesterday's TR:TechReady virtual Summer Coding Camp session ended in an ovation of sign-language clapping.
Jul 08, 2020
Cracking the Code

How a High School North student's work within TR:TechReady led to her being published in the World Journal of Oncology
May 27, 2020
A Day of Advocacy, Entrepreneurship, and Coding for Young Women

This event was funded by the Office of Naval Research TR:TechReady program and coordinated by Supervisor of Educational Technology Tiffany Lucey and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Marc Natanagara.
Dec 17, 2019
Sustainability Unites High School South and Silver Bay Students

The joint lesson was a continued extension of relationships developed with SAP through a girls coding grant and the Office of Naval Research TR:TechReady grant exploring more opportunities to deepen student coding experiences across classroom disciplines.
Dec 02, 2019
NYC Hosts Girls for Day of Empowerment Through Tech

The #ForUsGirls NYC excursion was a continuum of the summer Girls CodeCamp and the district’s broader initiative-- through TR:TechReady-- to introduce girls to coding and computer programming, fields where females are traditionally underrepresented.
Aug 12, 2019
Summer Coding Camp Sets Course for What’s to Come

More than 100 students, their families, teaching staff and community mentors gathered to celebrate the wrap-up of two weeks of the Office of Naval Research (ONR)-funded TR:TechReady coding camp.
Aug 12, 2019
Navy-Funded Girls CS Camp Builds Interest In Coding Through Creativity

Funded by the second year of a grant from the Office of Naval Research, nearly 30 young women from Toms River Regional’s secondary schools were introduced to computer science (CS) through personalized hands-on projects at a camp run July 15-18, 2019 at Toms River High School North.
Jul 23, 2019
Interscholastic STEAM Robotics Competition a Hit

June 6, with funding from the Office of Naval Research TR:TechReady Grant, robotics teams participated in a culminating sharing and scrimmage event.
Jun 06, 2019
TR:TechReady Students Work With Always Supporting Our Military

Students who participated in last summer’s Office of Naval Research (ONR)-funded TR:TechReady summer programming camp met with the leadership team of Toms River-based Always Supporting Our Military, helping the organization reimagine its website.
May 16, 2019
Register for Summer TR STEM Camps

Biocoding offered in Summer 2019.
Apr 29, 2019
ONR Funds Year 2 of Coding Initiative

ONR releases $256,482 for Year 2 of TR:TechReady in May 2019.
Apr 18, 2019
Students Have a Blast, Earn Awards at Rowan Rocketry Competition

Students from Toms River Regional Schools competed at Rowan University’s School of Engineering American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 4th Annual Rowan Blast Off Rocketry Competition Saturday, April 13.
Apr 15, 2019
UN Sustainability Expert Talks Tech, Business at High School South

TR:TechReady engagement encourages gender equality.
Mar 15, 2019
Game Design, Language Arts Challenge Nets Awards for Students

Language arts students at High School South learned how to code as part of the expansion of interdisciplinary coding opportunities at High School School provided by the TR: TechReady grant-funded program.
Feb 07, 2019
Students Take Gaming to a New Level

Coding and computer programming across content areas is supported by the district's TR:TechReady program.
Jan 16, 2019
TR:TechReady Team Presents to CSTA

The hugely successful Summer Coding Camp prompted an invitation from the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) to share the program with its members at its Oct. 3 meeting.
Oct 05, 2018
Summer Coding Camp 2018

The TR:TechReady program kicked off with a Summer Coding Camp at High School North.
Oct 04, 2018
Asbury Park Press

Asbury Park Press education reporter Amanda Oglesby produced an extended feature on district robotics and tech programs through the lens of TR:TechReady.
Oct 04, 2018
Toms River Patch

Toms River Patch reporter Karen Wall highlighted the Office of Naval Research-funded program.
Oct 04, 2018
Press release announcement

How did we get a grant of over three quarters of a million dollars? Why focus on coding? Read our press release about the grant.
Oct 04, 2018
NJDOE Broadcast

The New Jersey Department of Education's weekly broadcast highlighted TR:TechReady in late May 2018.
Sep 23, 2016

TR:TechReady Photo Gallery

A group of STEAM Academy students are getting TR:TechReady! Student ambassadors learned about blockchain and career opportunities in manufacturing and cybersecurity at the NJMEP National Manufacturing Day conference in Somerset, NJ Oct. 5, 2019.

TR:TechReady coding at High School South

Shivalika Gupta and Jeff Chang used sleep-- or lack thereof-- as motivation to create an alarm clock using Arduino and a website using HTML5.

TR:TechReady coding at High School South

The Downtown Toms River Trolley app maps out the route and locations of TR’s trolley system. It was developed by TRRS student Sabrina Chung, with the help of computer science teacher Matthew Chang.

Zuha Nasim (left) and Crystal Pan (right) demonstrate how readers can use their blog, Travel Two, for valuable information.

Ann Gural, Spanish teacher, and Kyle Seiverd, science teacher, are proud of the interactive travel blogs they created using HTML5.

Megan Mulholland used HTML5 to create the blog, We Run the County. It focuses on running, one of her passions.

TR:TechReady seeks to be a sustainable program, which is why reps from Rutgers touting the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals dropped by the Summer Coding Camp to present. (summer, 2018)

Members of the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) were impressed (and entertained!) when our TR:TechReady team, including HSN teacher Kyle Seiverd, presented on the program's progression and impact. (10/3/18)

Students consulted with community mentors in the field during the Summer Coding Camp. (summer, 2018)

Students learned to code using up to five languages as part of TR:TechReady's kickoff Summer Coding Camp. (summer, 2018)

Reps from project partners such as RWJBarnabas Health stopped by to visit TR:Ready's Summer Coding Camp. (summer, 2018)

The TR:TechReady team gathers on the staircase of the district's central office building during a professional development day for the coding program. (9/25/18)

During the Summer Coding Camp, TR:TechReady received a visit from Congressman Tom MacArthur’s office. Constituent Services Representative Mariella Kuchenbrod visited the camp, observed and conversed with students and mentors, and posted pictures of her visit to the congressman’s Facebook page. (summer, 2018)

TR:TechReady Principal Investigator Suzanne Signorelli presents at the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) Central Regional meeting at Rutgers. She and her team talked about their experience and the lessons they created to bring coding/programming into their curriculum for other disciplines. (10/3/18)