ORAU awards $39,000 in education grants to East Tennessee schools

Oak Ridge Associated Universities awarded more than $39,000 to more than two dozen teachers in 17 schools in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, and Anderson County in a recent grants ceremony.

It was the 12th annual ORAU Education Grants ceremony, and 27 teachers received awards, a press release said.

The grant money can be used to buy educational materials and equipment such as microscopes, iPads, robotics kits, and computers that will help teachers “continue to meet rigorous, state-wide curriculum standards and enhance the learning experience of their students,” the release said.

Anderson County Schools was one of the biggest winners. The system received a $5,000 grant to purchase a digital-based collection of books for math and science. The book collections will be shared between all eight Anderson County elementary schools and allow teachers to use more than 300 interactive titles and have unlimited users at any given time.

The second largest grant of $3,100 was presented to Clinton Middle School for the purchase of 10 compound light microscopes to supplement and replace microscopes dating back to the 1950s, the release said. The new equipment will allow students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades to examine plant and animal cells. Clinton Middle School also received a grant of $1,390 for the purchase of a clicker response system that will be made available to all of the school’s math and science teachers.

Briceville Elementary School also was granted its request for six iPads to be used throughout the school as listening hubs for students, the release said. And Grand Oaks Elementary School received six iPads to be used by students throughout the school to engage in multiple subjects, and Norwood Middle School received 15 Kindles with chargers to give students instant access to books and resources at their own individual reading level. Each grant is valued at $3,000.

ORAU said it has provided more than $350,000 to area schools for projects that complement its mission of enriching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs since beginning this program in 2002.

“ORAU is honored we can play a role is building the future for our community by helping our schools secure the tools they need to capture and maintain students’ attention on these critical subjects,” ORAU President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Page said. “These educators continue to show increased dedication to teaching, and we appreciate all of their effort and hard work.”

The other grant winners were:

• Andersonville Elementary School—a $2,587 grant for the purchase of a LEGO We Do Construction Set that will allow students to test real world math and science problems through designing LEGO structures.
• Clinch River Community School—a $2,500 grant for the purchase of plants and pond liners to turn the new school’s campus into an interactive wetland that will allow students to use real-world data to practice science and math concepts.
• Jefferson Middle School—a $2,150 grant for the purchase of a VEX Gateway to Technology kit that will allow students to use the scientific method in approaching the challenge of designing robots.
• Dutch Valley Elementary School—a $2,000 grant for the purchase of materials to support the Math and Movement program, which is a multi-sensory approach to teach math that incorporates physical exercise into the lessons; and a $700 grant for the purchase of two iPad minis to support the many learning styles of students and expand resources for teaching.
• Anderson County High School—a $1,775 grant for the purchase of lab equipment, such as motion detectors, graphing programs, and sound wave detectors, and a printer to be used by fifth-grade students to familiarize them with the newest technology while increasing their curiosity and performance.
• South Clinton Elementary School—a $1,530 grant for the purchase of 47 eBooks in a variety of subjects; a $800 grant for the purchase of an ELMO Document Camera that will provide demonstrative learning to students; and a $110 grant for the purchase of a portable science habitat and live butterfly larval kit to create a butterfly garden.
• Claxton Elementary School—a $1,436 grant for the purchase of two new classroom computers to make hands-on learning and discovery through technology a priority.
• Linden Elementary School—a $1,100 grant for the purchase of two iPads to allow autistic students to visually learn concepts of math through a variety of applications.
• Grand Oaks Elementary School—a $1,040 grant for the purchase of science centers focused on hands-on learning to be used in grades four and five.
• Norris Elementary School—a $800 grant for the purchase of four microscopes to allow students to explore a variety of wetland-related objects.
• Clinton Elementary School—a $692 grant for the purchase of 13 content-specific Delta Science Readers that will be used by more than 80 students in the third grade; a $645 grant for the purchase of Really Easy Data Collectors that will allow students to analyze their data and make informed, on the spot decisions about their next steps in an investigation; and a $383 grant for the purchase of an ELMO Document Camera to be used in all of the school’s math and science classes.
• Clinton City Schools—a $600 grant for the purchase of common core math kits to be used by students in grades three through six and includes “manipulatives” for hands-on learning.

The awards, based on competitive proposals submitted by the individual schools, were presented by Page, ORAU Executive Vice President Eric Abelquist, and ORAU director and Vice President of science education programs Dean Evasius.

For more information about this and other ORAU-supported programs in education, visit http://www.orau.org/about-orau/community-outreach/education-support.aspx.