Fitzgerald first connected with the Edgerton Center during her tenure with Cambridge Public Schools, where she worked on science curriculum. Collaborating closely with the Edgerton Center's then-outreach coordinator, Fitzgerald helped ensure that all of the hands-on STEM lessons included in the field trips conformed to Cambridge science curriculum standards. She joined MIT full time in 2001.

In the 25 years since, Fitzgerald has worked with over 65,000 students, over 16,000 of them from Cambridge Public Schools. During COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, she devised ways to deliver hands-on STEM lessons remotely, and has since reached an additional 2,000 students through virtual programming. She has also expanded the field trip STEM class options to include topics ranging from electronics to environmental science, and created a summer STEM camp for girls, now in its 16th year.

In commemoration of her milestone anniversary, Fitzgerald’s son Shane (MIT ‘20) immortalized the iconic Edgerton Center outreach classroom in LEGO. The custom set, which is over 650 pieces and includes a full instructional build guide booklet, features six of Fitzgerald’s signature activities from the LEGO car rally ramp to laser mirrors to DIY flashlights. Fitzgerald herself even appears in minifigure form, chalk in hand, name written on the board.

After 25 years in the classroom, Fitzgerald is still innovating. Working alongside Professor J. Kim Vandiver, Forbes Director of the Edgerton Center and professor of mechanical engineering, she’s devising a new lesson around buoyancy and density. The biggest challenge? Creating a version of the lesson that’s sustainable, with minimal material waste.

That is Fitzgerald’s approach in a nutshell: make the most of your resources, leave things a little better than you found them, and show students what’s possible, one “aha” at a time.