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Three facts about the TVA Mini-grants, now expanded to seven states!

Apr 22, 2019

Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated (a TVA retiree organization), announced awards earlier in late March of over $580,000 in grants to educators in public schools to develop STEM education projects across the Tennessee Valley.

Most awarded funds support teachers in Tennessee, but thanks to a partnership to expand the grant through STEMx, this year’s grant also supported teachers in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. To be eligible, a locality had to have its energy production provided by TVA.

Fact #1:

This was the largest TVA Mini-grant ever, awarding  $451,250 to Tennessee and $130,250 to six new states .

Fact #2:

In total, the educators receiving funding from the program estimate they’ll serve more than 70,000 students with the grants .

Fact #3:

Of the 34 awarded projects outside of Tennessee, 74% support Title 1 schools , schools that qualify under the federal government’s definition for primarily serving low-income students.

Read the complete press release from TVA below.

TVA Partnership Awards $580,000 in STEM Grants

The Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated (a TVA retiree organization), announced this week the award of over $580,000 in grants to educators in public schools to develop STEM education projects all across the Tennessee Valley, with over $400,000 of the available funds supporting schools in Tennessee.

The competitive Mini-Grant Program, operated in partnership with Battelle , opened on Dec. 7, 2018, and received more than 240 grant requests from across TVA’s seven-state service territory.

“When we kicked this grant program off, we weren’t sure what to expect,” said Community Relations Program Manager Rachel Crickmar. “Needless to say, it’s not just Tennessee Valley Authority that understands that excellence in education is the key to our future. We were surprised at how many grant applications we received, but it goes to show there is a demand in the Valley for workforce development through STEM education. I am proud that our retirees are partnering with us to respond to that demand.”

Among the 161 grant awards was “The Copper Basin Environment, Ecosystem, and Food Project” at Copper Basin Elementary school in Copperhill, Tennessee. Students will focus on understanding the local environment and ecosystem to create and maintain adequate ecosystems and environments for crop and plant growth. The grant will allow fifth and sixth grade students to utilize the tools necessary to conduct a multi-semester study of the local environment including testing soil and water samples to determine nutrient content and analyzing the data to compare against the best methods of regularly producing high yields of food.

Another project that received funding is in Memphis, Tennessee, where students at Havenview Middle School will be exploring STEM career options by participating in learning activities that directly connect to the responsibilities of a crime scene investigator, forensic anthropologist, forensic pathologist, and a forensic engineer.

“Every teacher needs something different to take learning in their classroom to the next level,” said Aimee Kennedy, senior vice-president for Education and Philanthropy at Battelle. “Through the TVA’s generosity, educators all over the Tennessee Valley get to choose just what they need to expand STEM for their students.”

Across the Valley, educators submitted projects large and small, to further their STEM education initiatives in the classroom.

“The projects were all across the STEM spectrum,” said Crickmar. “We had entries for things like safety goggles for science labs, but we also had projects like engineering and building solar powered drones. It was a great cross-section of projects, very representative of life in the Valley.”

The competitive grant program provided teachers an opportunity to apply for funding up to $5,000 and preference was given to grant applications that explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic and career development and community problem solving.

“The goal of the program was to help further STEM education across the Valley,” said Crickmar. “We knew this program would be popular and competitive and now we’re are looking forward to seeing the impact these projects have.”

A full list of the grant recipients can be found at www.tvastem.com.

 

By Rob Evans 01 Nov, 2023
by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .
By Rob Evans 03 Oct, 2023
Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce
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