Donna Widner and her students at Oliver Springs Middle School received a $5,000 grant as runners-up in the 2017 ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover competition. (Photo by ORAU)
Oliver Springs Middle School in Roane County and Shannondale Elementary School in Knox County have been announced as runners-up in the 2017 ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover competition during surprise classroom visits, according to a press release on Friday.
ORAU made surprise visits to the two schools and their students and teachers, and presented each with a $5,000 grant as runners-up in the competition.
April Lamb, a STEM teacher at Shannondale Elementary School in Knox County, and Donna Widner, a math teacher at Oliver Springs Middle School in Roane County, will use the grants to outfit their classrooms with new technology. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Contestants entering ORAU’s competition must teach math or science for third through 11th grades and work for a public school located within 50 miles of Oak Ridge. Also, a teacher must submit a short video illustrating the classroom’s need and explain how the new technologies would be used to energize and enhance learning.
Earlier this week, ORAU announced Kyle Roach of Rutledge Middle School in Grainger County as the 2017 ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover grand prize winner. Roach received a $25,000 grant to use toward the purchase of technology for his classroom.
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