The Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Inc., a TVA retiree organization, is awarding, for the third year in a row, $1.5 million in awards to educators to develop science, technology, engineering, and math education projects across the Tennessee Valley region.
“Inspiring young people to pursue careers in STEM fields is so important,” said TVA President and CEO Don Moul. “A workforce with specialized skills means more economic opportunities for people across our seven-state region and more opportunities for our students to achieve high-paying jobs that will support their families and make their communities a better place to live when they grow up.”
The competitive STEM classroom award program is operated in partnership with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, managed by the Battelle organization. The program received 528 applications, and 339 were selected for funding. Since 2018, TVA/BVI has provided over $9 million in STEM grants supporting over 845,000 students.
Riverside Elementary teacher Rommanita Smith said the school plans to use their $5,000 grant to purchase the hand2mind STEM 3D Coding and Robotics Cart, a comprehensive, mobile solution designed to bring hands-on STEM learning directly into the classroom and beyond.
“During the school day, the cart will be integrated into Ms. Smith’s classroom instruction, supporting cross-curricular learning through interactive STEM challenges and collaborative projects. Students will gain early exposure to computational thinking and engineering design in a developmentally appropriate, engaging environment,” school officials wrote in their application.
At Columbia Central High School, Audio/Visual Instructor John Orman plans to expand his students to Virtual Reality to showcase CTE classes to middle school students who may not be aware of the possibilities in the field.
“The goal is to be able to show these classes and programs to 8th graders that are in Career Exploration classes in middle schools. 8th graders usually have no idea that these activities happen and which CTE courses they should go into if they are interested in them. The result would ideally be that our incoming freshmen will have a comprehensive idea of the different courses of study that each CTE pathway offers,” he wrote.
At Zion Christian Academy, their project will engage students in hands-on, STEM-focused learning through a series of interactive labs and field-based activities centered on environmental science and sustainable agriculture.
“This project builds scientific literacy, promotes environmental stewardship, and prepares students for a wide range of STEM careers,” ZCA teacher Chelsey McMahon wrote in her application.
Awards up to $5,000 were awarded in a competitive process, and preference was given to grant applications that explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic development, and community problem-solving. Any school that receives its power from a local power company served by TVA was eligible to apply.