Oak Ridge Today

UCOR awards $45,000 in STEM education mini-grants

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Dyllis Springs kindergarten students build problem-solving, creativity, and spatial skills with Lego projects. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

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Drones, a manufacturing simulator lab, and hands on meteorology are among the classroom projects that United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) will fund through its 2024 mini-grants. UCOR awarded $45,000 in mini-grants to fund 41 projects for East Tennessee K-12 teachers in 29 schools. The grants support projects in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as related classes.

With this year’s awards, UCOR has given a total of $395,000 to fund STEM and STEM-related projects since 2012.

“STEM education is an important part of both our community outreach and our workforce development program. It’s exciting to read the grant proposals and see all of the projects teachers are doing to expose students to future STEM careers,” said UCOR Community and Education Outreach Coordinator Shannon Potter.

This year’s mini-grants went to elementary, middle, junior high, and high schools and included projects such as:

[Read more…]

ORAU Education Grants applications now open for 2024

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Rebekah Bozeman, STEM teacher at Lake City Elementary School, used her 2023 ORAU Education Grant to purchase building blocks, fort boards, interactive gloves, Spirographs, mazes, and iPad minis to use in a variety of ways to teach kindergarten through sixth grade students. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

Proposals now being accepted from educators in five East Tennessee counties; deadline is April 19

ORAU is accepting applications for its Education Grants program for 2024, offering $30,000 in grant funding for teachers in five East Tennessee counties.

Educators in Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Roane, and Scott county public schools are invited to submit proposals to fund programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a press release said.

[Read more…]

Extreme Classroom Makeover applications due Jan. 31

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The deadline to submit a video application is about one week away (it’s Jan. 31, 2023) in a contest that awards $25,000 to improve STEM education in public schools in the Oak Ridge region. (Photo by ORAU)

The deadline to submit a video application is about one week away in a contest that awards $25,000 to improve STEM education in public schools in the region.

ORAU’s Extreme Classroom Makeover is open to third-grade to 10th-grade math and science teachers in public schools within 50 miles of Oak Ridge. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The $25,000 can be used for new equipment to update classrooms with new technology, ORAU said.

A runner-up will receive $5,000 in new equipment.

[Read more…]

Roane State’s Lab-in-a-Box program hits major milestone

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Brothers Henry Kitts, left, and William Kitts help educators Britini Carter, left, and Nicole Hood as they assemble a robotics kit that’s part of the Lab-in-a-Box program administered by Roane State Community College. (Submitted photo)

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Students were teaching the teachers to assemble complex robots as the Lab-in-a-Box program developed by Roane State Community College reached a major landmark.

The occasion was the latest session of showing teachers from rural middle schools how to include the innovative kits to instruct their students in scientific principles of friction, fossils, and robotics.

“The more hands-on lessons students have, the more they can grasp the concept,” Rockwood Middle School teacher Bernard McMahon said.

The Lab-in-a-Box program evolved from an initiative 11 years ago by the East Tennessee Economic Council to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in rural schools.

Roane State has been deeply involved in the program from its start. Faculty members developed the three kits, and each summer they introduce the components – contained in large plastic boxes – to area teachers.

[Read more…]

For members: RMS satellite scheduled to launch in September

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Peter Thornton, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, holds the cube satellite, or CubeSat, that will be completely built soon and was developed by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers and mentors. Named RamSat, the cube satellite is scheduled to launch from Virginia on a space station resupply mission on Sept. 7, 2020. Thornton is pictured above during a mentors meeting at RMS on Thursday, May 28. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The small cube satellite built by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers, mentors, and NASA is scheduled to launch on a resupply rocket to the International Space Station in September, and it could be deployed into orbit a few hundred miles above Earth in October.

Testing of the satellite and its components, including a battery test and vibration tests, was scheduled to start this week. A battery test was scheduled to start at Global Testing Laboratories in Knoxville on Tuesday this week and continue Wednesday.

 

Peter Thornton, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, holds the cube satellite, or CubeSat, that will be completely built soon and was developed by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers and mentors. Named RamSat, the cube satellite is scheduled to launch from Virginia on a space station resupply mission on Sept. 7, 2020. Thornton is pictured above during a mentors meeting at RMS on Thursday, May 28. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The small cube satellite built by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers, mentors, and NASA is scheduled to launch on a resupply rocket to the International Space Station in September, and it could be deployed into orbit a few hundred miles above Earth in October.

Testing of the satellite and its components, including a battery test and vibration tests, was scheduled to start this week.

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ORAU awards $25,000 to Union Grove Elementary in Extreme Classroom Makeover

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The winner of ORAU’s 2020 Extreme Classroom Makeover competition, Amy Buchanan from Union Grove Elementary School, was surprised at her house with the Extreme Classroom Makeover winner reveal. Her principal, Kristy Brewer, and fellow staff from Union Grove Elementary School joined in the celebration. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

Amy Buchanan encourages students at Union Grove Elementary School to imagine a world of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) beyond the limitations of the classroom.

ORAU (Oak Ridge Associated Universities) wanted to help Buchanan and her students do more than imagine.

ORAU recently surprised Buchanan at her house with $25,000 for new classroom technology. This award will allow students to explore, touch, and see the STEM classroom they’ve only imagined.

ORAU chose Buchanan, who serves as the STEM teacher for all of Union Grove Elementary in Blount County, to be the recipient of this year’s Extreme Classroom Makeover competition. She was selected after a review of her submitted video, which demonstrated the rural school’s need for STEM resources. [Read more…]

UCOR accepting applications for education grants

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UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is accepting applications for education grants between $500 and $1,000.

The grants will support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, projects.

The grant applications are open to public school teachers in eight counties: Anderson (including Oak Ridge and Clinton City schools), Campbell, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane, Scott, and Union.

“Teachers in those counties are welcome to apply, but applications should focus on STEM,” a press release said. “For instance, a music teacher might apply for a grant for a math-related project within the field of music.”

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Humphries named ORISE group manager for ORNL office

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Leigha Humphries
Leigha Humphries

Leigha Humphries has been named group manager for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education office at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

In her role, Humphries will provide leadership and development oversight for STEM-based workforce development and education programs averaging up to 2,000 research participants a year and an equal number of mentors, a press release said. (STEM is an acronym referring to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.) In addition, Humphries will also represent ORISE at external venues, including professional meetings and site visits with potential and current customers.

“We’re excited for Leigha to take on this role as she possesses extensive management and stakeholder engagement experience within the communications and human resources sectors,” said ORISE Director Jim Vosburg. “Her addition to the ORISE team will further strengthen the management of our research participation programs by helping to ensure continuity between ORNL and ORISE.”

[Read more…]

ORISE to host virtual career fair for STEM internships, fellowships, research opportunities

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The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education will host a virtual career fair on Wednesday, November 13, from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time.

During this time, college students and recent graduates seeking STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) research, internship, and fellowship opportunities can interact with U.S. Department of Energy scientists, researchers, recruiters, and staff. They can explore virtual booths representing more than 25 programs in energy-related research, policy, and technology from national laboratories, field offices, and research facilities across the nation, a press release said.

“The ORISE Virtual Career Fair experience is a great opportunity for university-level students and post graduates to investigate research opportunities available at facilities across the DOE complex,” said ORISE Workforce Development Associate Director Craig Layman. “There will be representatives from many DOE program offices, including fusion energy, nuclear security, fossil energy, intelligence and counterintelligence, environmental management, energy efficiency and renewable energy, and more.” [Read more…]

ORAU awards $20,000 in education grants to 26 local teachers

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ORAU Grant Awards Ceremony Sept 10 2019

More than 25 teachers from Anderson County schools received new teaching materials and supplies at ORAU’s Education Grants program on Sept. 10, 2019, walking away with a total of $20,000 in grant funds. (Photo by ORAU)

 

More than 25 teachers from Anderson County schools received new teaching materials and supplies at ORAU’s Education Grants program on Sept. 10, walking away with a total of $20,000 in grant funds.

Now in the program’s 18th year, ORAU has awarded more than half a million dollars to Clinton City, Oak Ridge, and Anderson County Schools in its mission to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs.

And each year, teachers find more creative ways to incorporate STEM learning into their classrooms, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORISE employee inducted into UT Educator’s Hall of Honor

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Craig Layman, right, accepts the Educators Hall of Honor award from Bob Kesling, lead announcer on the Vol Radio Network, who served as Master of Ceremony at the awards banquet. (Submitted photo)

Craig Layman, actively involved in preparing the next generation of STEM professionals for occupations related to science and engineering, was recently inducted into the University of Tennessee Educators Hall of Honor.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Layman, associate director of workforce development for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education at Oak Ridge Associated Universities, was among six new members added to the Hall of Honor by UT’s College of Education, Health, and Human Services during ceremonies at the Holiday Inn-World’s Fair Park in Knoxville.

The UT Educators Hall of Honor was established to recognize educators who have made profound differences in their students’ lives and the community. The program also generates an endowed scholarship fund to assist students in the process of becoming teachers. [Read more…]

Y-12 hosts eighth annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering

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Photo by Y-12 National Security Complex

Photo by Y-12 National Security Complex

 

The Y-12 National Security Complex says it is helping to open doors and close the gender gap in engineering fields.

In February, Y-12 hosted its eighth annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering at the site’s New Hope Center. The one-day event, held in conjunction with Engineers Week, gave young female students an opportunity to discover and explore science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM) careers alongside Y-12 and Uranium Processing Facility Project scientists and engineers, a press release said.

More than 300 middle- and high-school students from seven area counties attended this year’s event. About 100 engineers, scientists, and other volunteers—most from Y-12, the Uranium Processing Facility Project, and the Oak Ridge chapter of Women in Nuclear—supported the event, which encouraged students to connect their math and science skills to careers in STEM fields, the press release said. [Read more…]