UCOR awards 33 mini-grants for local school projects

Posted at 7:32 pm May 18, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Reservation, has announced the 33 winners of the UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program.

UCOR is a partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.

The company said one of its primary objectives is to support and encourage education initiatives.

“The Mini-Grant Program was designed to recognize and support excellence in teaching by providing funds to assist classroom teachers for specific projects or curricula, focusing primarily on science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM,” a press release said.

“The UCOR Mini-Grant Program enables teachers to enhance their students’ educational experiences,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project manager. “The selected projects funded by our program give students a greater insight into the essential STEM subjects in fun and exciting ways.”

The UCOR Mini-Grant committee has selected the following projects:

Kim Howard, Woodland Elementary School—STEM Interactive Materials Project
Donnel Malone, Hardin Valley Elementary School—Hands on Science Labs
Jason Young, Roane County High School—Country-wide Robotics Team
Jenifer Laurendine, Woodland Elementary School—Math and Movement Family Fun Night
Jessica Conaster, Grand Oaks Elementary School—Math and Movement
Madeline Ferguson, Powell High School—Mathlete
Beth McCoy, Robertsville Middle School—NASA Cube Satellite Challenge
Denise Miller, St. Mary’s School—Technology Support for Introductory Robotics Program
Courtney Bass, Anderson County Head Start—Brain Busters
Amelia Bell, Glenwood Elementary School—Let’s Get Cooking: Connecting Girls to STEM
Lucy Brooks, Anderson County Preschool/Dutch Valley School—Little Hands…BIG Ideas!
Mary Ball, South Knoxville Elementary School—Neighborhood Stewards
Bryan Freeman and Jenna Howerton, Clinton Middle School—“Seeing It All” with Binocular Dissecting Microscope
James Scheele, Norris Elementary School—Kids K’NEX Class
Rebecca Beers, Stanford Eisenberg Knoxville School—Real World Application for Math and Science
Janie Shanafield, Jefferson Middle School—EV3 Boot Camp and Lego Robotics Tournament
Trevor Renfro, Cedar Bluff Elementary School—Increasing ELL’s Mathematic Vocabulary
Kari Schubauer, Stanford Eisenberg Knoxville School—Changing Ecosystem
Jamie Bevins, Ball Camp Elementary School—Earth Science Rocks!
Katie Bell, Stanford Eisenberg Knoxville School—Integrating Design Challenges
Janis Bishop, Dutch Valley Elementary School, Stem Resources in the Library
Katie McKee, Midway Middle School—Using Articles to Supplement Textbooks
Louise Lindsay, Stanford Eisenberg Knoxville School—Robots in the Classroom
Taffy Ridenour, Anderson County Pre-School—STEM Family Engagement Weekend Challenges
Ted Fletcher, Anderson County Preschool—Successful Start
Mandy Dye, Cedar Bluff Preschool—Building “Chutes and Ladders” in Preschool
Krista Manning, Ridgedale School—Fun with STEM
Susan Parker, Chilhowee Intermediate School—iExplore Robotics with Meccanoids
Madison Jones, Norris Middle School—VEX IQ Robotics Program
Aundrea Mitchell, Farragut High School—TSA Engineering Design
Jill Hudson and Carrie Guy, Cherokee Middle School—“Leg-up” with LEGO League
Adam Trout, Rockwood Middle School—Making Models Matter
Adam Trout, Rockwood Middle School—School-wide Engineering Design Competition

Applications were screened and awardees selected using a blind process that prevented members of the selection panel from knowing the names of the teachers or the schools. Schools in Roane, Anderson, Loudon, Knox, and Morgan counties were eligible to submit proposals.

UCOR’s Mini-Grant Program has awarded the grants annually, since 2012.

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