Author: Dr. Jane Spanich

Dr. Jane Marie Spanich

Short Bio

Dr. Jane Marie Spanich is the STREAM Director at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, recognized as one of the Top Ten STEM Directors in the United States in 2024. A native Floridian who grew up in the Archdiocese of Miami, she holds a Bachelor's degree from Florida State University, a Master's from Rollins College, and a Ph.D. in Practical Theology from Saint Thomas University. Her focus areas include STEM, Practical Theology, Catholic theology, interdisciplinary approaches, Milestones of Modern Science, and the life and work of Dorothy Day. Alongside her leadership role, she teaches Comparative Religions and Catholic Social Teaching, inspiring students through a holistic, spiritual, and integrated educational experience. She dedicates much of her time to teaching, reading, writing, researching, and reflecting on performance standards for teachers, students, and educational leaders.

Extended Bio

Dr. Jane Marie Spanich is an educator who refuses to accept the false choice between science and faith. As STREAM Director at Cardinal Gibbons High School - STREAM adding Religion and the Arts to the familiar STEM acronym - she leads an educational vision that treats scientific inquiry and spiritual formation not as competing interests, but as complementary dimensions.Her own academic journey embodies this integration. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Florida State University, a Master's from Rollins College, and a Ph.D. in Practical Theology from Saint Thomas University. Practical theology is the discipline that asks how theological understanding can be applied to real-world situations — how belief translates into action, how faith informs practice. It is a field that suits someone whose professional life is dedicated to making education work in the concrete reality of a high school classroom.Her recognition as one of the Top Ten STEM Directors in the United States in 2024 is a testament to her effectiveness in leading STREAM education. But what makes her approach distinctive is its insistence that STEM education without moral and spiritual grounding is incomplete. She teaches Comparative Religions and Catholic Social Teaching alongside her administrative work, ensuring that students encounter questions of meaning, justice, and purpose alongside questions of engineering, coding, and data analysis.Her intellectual interests are broad and deliberately interconnected. She works on the Milestones of Modern Science — understanding the historical moments when scientific understanding transformed — and connects them to theological and philosophical questions. She studies the life and work of Dorothy Day, the American journalist and social activist whose Catholic Worker movement embodied the principles of Catholic Social Teaching in action. She develops interdisciplinary approaches that break down the silos between subjects, treating knowledge as an integrated whole rather than a collection of disconnected disciplines.Beyond her formal roles, she is deeply engaged in reflecting on performance standards — for teachers, students, and educational leaders. She writes and researches on what it means to assess educational quality in ways that honor the complexity of human learning and development. This work reflects a conviction that accountability and spirituality are not opposites: that rigorous standards can coexist with a deep respect for the dignity and potential of every person.A native Floridian who has grown up in the Archdiocese of Miami, Dr. Spanich's work is rooted in the communities she serves. When not engaged in academic pursuits, she enjoys spending time with her family as a devoted mother, wife, sister, and daughter — reminding us that the most important education often happens not in the classroom, but at home.She writes for the STEM educator who wants to integrate faith and learning, the theology student interested in how faith engages with science, the Catholic educator seeking models for holistic education, and the parent who wants their child's education to form both mind and spirit.

Primary Beats

• STREAM Education & Integrated Pedagogy: Leading STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) programs in secondary education; designing curricula that integrate scientific, artistic, and spiritual formation; interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning.
• Practical Theology & Catholic Education: Applying theological understanding to educational practice; the relationship between faith and reason in classroom settings; Catholic Social Teaching as a framework for educational mission; the life and work of Dorothy Day as a model of faith in action.
• Milestones of Modern Science & Science-Religion Dialogue: Historical moments of scientific transformation and their philosophical and theological implications; helping students understand science not as a rival to faith but as a complementary way of knowing; fostering respectful dialogue between scientific and religious worldviews.
• Educational Leadership & Performance Standards: Developing and reflecting on standards for teachers, students, and educational leaders; assessing educational quality in holistic terms; leading faculty development in STREAM pedagogy; building school cultures that integrate academic excellence with spiritual formation.