STEM Network and TVA Provide STEM Grants to Schools

  Further advancing the state’s recent growth in the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN), Battelle Education, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced today the 18 statewide recipients of the Network’s yearly competitive STEM classroom grants.  (A complete list of schools funded appears at […]Read more The post STEM Network and TVA Provide STEM Grants to Schools appeared first on Tennessee STEM Innovation Network.

Further advancing the state’s recent growth in the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN), Battelle Education, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced today the 18 statewide recipients of the Network’s yearly competitive STEM classroom grants.  (A complete list of schools funded appears at the end of this article.)

Since 2012, the TSIN and TVA have partnered to provide funding for STEM learning projects in Tennessee classrooms and schools. This year’s grant competition received more than 375 submissions, with over $1.4 million in requests for the $60,000 in funding provided by TVA.

“TVA’s strategic Community Relations and Contributions Plan focuses fifty percent of our programming and philanthropy on STEM education,” said Gail Rymer, TVA Director of Public and Community Relations. “TVA recognizes the impact of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, and we are inspired by the progress being made to help prepare the next generation of leaders in STEM-related fields,” said Rymer.

Some of the innovative projects funded include alternative energy exploration, the physical science of traffic safety, and science in agriculture. Additionally, many schools received funding for STEM equipment such as microscopes, computers, tablets, and physics kits.

“TVA is a committed corporate champion for STEM education in our state,” said Wes Hall, Director of the TSIN. “Through their support for this program, we have expanded access to inspiring STEM programming for students across Tennessee that otherwise would not have been possible,” said Hall.

The continued partnership between the TSIN and TVA marks a year of major expansion for STEM in Tennessee with the Network’s move to continue to provide a supplemental STEM curriculum called Learning Blade® for free to all Tennessee middle schools, the continuation of the annual Tennessee STEM Innovation Summit to be held in May in Murfreesboro, and the expansion of the Innovative Leaders Institute, a professional development program designed to train school leaders in effective STEM strategies.

Focusing on a “kindergarten to jobs” philosophy, the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network is developing high-quality STEM programming to further ensure Tennessee students are college and career ready upon graduation. The Network utilizes STEM Platform Schools and Regional STEM Innovation Hubs located across the state to increase student interest and participation in STEM fields. The Network is committed to helping the State of Tennessee inspire and train the next generation of innovative leaders and is operated as a partnership between the Tennessee Department of Education and Battelle Education.  For more information about the Network, please visit www.TSIN.org.

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