ORAU awards $32,000 in education grants to area schools

 

ORAU awarded 28 teachers from nine East Tennessee schools more than $32,000 in grant money during the 14th annual ORAU Education Grants ceremony.

The grant money will be used to purchase educational materials and equipment—such as Chromebooks, microscopes, meteorology kits, and more—to help teachers continue to meet rigorous, state-wide curriculum standards, and enhance the learning experience of their students, a press release said.

Since beginning this program in 2002, ORAU has provided more than $410,000 to area schools for projects that complement its mission of enriching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, programs.

“ORAU is honored to support 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 an impressive dedication to teaching, and we welcome the opportunity to show them how much we appreciate their dedication and hard work.”

Clinton Elementary School received a $2,800 grant to purchase eight Chromebooks. The school will use them to prepare students for state online testing and will further implement the school’s STEM education emphasis. All total, the school received nearly $4,500 from ORAU to fund six grant requests, the press release said.

The second largest grant of $2,580 was presented to Robertsville Middle School for the purchase of a Promethean ACTIVboard to be used for fifth-grade math lessons. The Promethean ACTIVboard allows students to interact with math content using dynamic digital tools. Teachers using the board will be able to switch seamlessly between videos, websites, and PDFs and will be able to teach in a more organized manner.

Lake City Middle School also was granted its request for a mobile computer lab, which will employ work-from-anywhere cloud technologies. The grant, worth $2,500, will be used to serve all students in the school. ORAU provided $4,450 to fund the school’s two grant requests.

Dutch Valley Elementary received the most grant money, totaling more than $7,200, that will be used for six grant requests that include Chromebooks, microscopes, and an aquarium.

Here is the total grant money per school:

• Briceville Elementary School—$2,100
  • $2,100 for six Chromebooks for the library to encourage and simplify homework. This technology upgrade will provide the students with a foundation in real world technologies.
• Clinton Elementary School—$4,490
  • $2,800 for eight Chromebooks.
  • $585 for an ELMO document projector, which will allow students to view texts that have limited availability in hard copies as well as providing a visual element to teaching.
  • $460 for STEM eBooks covering topics including the solar system, extreme climates, natural disasters, and marine life. These eBooks will be available on the cloud.
  • $345 for a Bluetooth Speaker for music education and playing student compositions.
  • $235 for Boogie Board eWriters to practice handwriting and alphabet recognition for kindergarteners while saving paper and other writing materials.
  • $60 for an interactive smartboard learning game.
• Dutch Valley Elementary School—$7,270
  • $1,969 for night vision wildlife cameras plus the accompanying memory storage. Students will use these items to learn the scientific method by being out in the field and studying about animals in their own habitats.
  • $1,775 for 50 headphones and 2GB USB flash drives to upgrade the technology experience in the classroom and better prepare the students for online state testing.
  • $1,750 for five Chromebooks for students that require special education services such as read aloud examinations.
  • $780 for 10 compound microscopes and prepared slide sets to build students’ foundation in microbiology.
  • $550 for two aquariums to study aquatic biology and to learn the responsibilities of caring for an animal.
  • $450 for meteorological equipment for studying East Tennessee climate.
• Fairview Elementary School—$3,450
  • $2,450 for seven Chromebooks used for remote studying in the outdoor classroom.
  • $1,000 for a student response system that will encourage questions and preserve anonymity for all levels of intelligence.
• Lake City Middle School—$4,450
  • $2,500 for a mobile computer lab.
  • $1,950 for five Chromebooks and external DVD/CD drives for students that require special education services such as read aloud accommodations.
• Linden Elementary School—$1,160
  • $1,160 for a More To Math educational LEGO kit to teach students the importance of teamwork and promote a positive attitude toward learning.
• North Clinton Elementary School—$3,000
  • $1,700 for Discover Our World books that cover a broad range of subjects including math, science, and social studies.
  • $625 for 25 wireless Bluetooth headphones to be used in conjunction with Chromebooks to watch a variety of educational websites, videos, games, and music to improve their learning, knowledge, and experience in the classroom.
  • $560 for 10 VersaTiles Learning Stations that will help students practice and reinforce skills learned in math and science.
  • $110 for FACEing Math series, an interactive learning tool to practice math skills.
• Robertsville Middle School—$2,580
  • $2,580 for a Promethean ACTIVboard.
• Willow Brook Elementary School—$1,300
  • $1,300 for variety of tools to study future alternative energy. These tools will allow students to practice engineering, problem-based learning, and quantitative reasoning.

The awards, based on competitive proposals submitted by the individual schools, were presented by Andy Page, ORAU Executive Vice President Eric Abelquist, and ORAU Vice President Dave Duncan.

For more information about this and other ORAU–supported programs in education, visit the ORAU Community Involvement page.

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