Six Metro Schools Receive a Collective $26,500 Through TVA STEM Grant

Six Metro Schools Receive a Collective $26,500 Through TVA STEM Grant
Posted on 01/08/2020
STEM

Six Metro Schools received a STEM grant through the Tennessee Valley Authority's STEMready initiative, which seeks to support teachers and students with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning opportunities.

Teachers from the entire TVA service area were invited to apply for the grant by writing proposals specific to their students and school. According to TVA, more than 290 applications were submitted by educators across the Tennessee Valley region.

Six Metro Schools are among the 142 schools that received the grant:

“Congratulations to all six of these schools and to each of the educators who were involved in winning these grants,” said Dr. Adrienne Battle, interim director of MNPS. “As more and more of our students explore STEM fields and have a chance to create new education and career opportunities, we're grateful to TVA for funding innovative classrooms throughout the district.”

This grant will create many opportunities for all students and will increase personalized student learning in each of these six schools. Michael Lee, a science teacher at Antioch High School, had this goal in mind when he applied for the TVA STEM Grant.

“My thesis was that [for] students from diverse backgrounds … traditional teaching methods do not [always] met their needs,” Lee said of his application. “But if you do labs, then all of those issues should be less of a concern, because the core concepts are the ones that they are doing in lab.”

Lee's classroom will receive $5,000 for lab resources, ranging from neuroscience to biology and computer sciences.

Jacqueline Price, Ed.D., the library media specialist at John F. Kennedy Middle School, applied for the TVA STEM Grant to create a unique space in the heart of the school for her students to investigate real-world possibilities.

“Before school, during lunch, after school, and throughout the school day, students will have the opportunity to investigate various questions, like ‘How can MNPS convert schools to solar-powered schools?' and ‘Can drones help Nashville's traffic problem?'” Price said.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR METRO SCHOOLS STUDENTS'

This grant announcement kicks off another exciting year of STEAM learning in Nashville. In December, the Metro Council unanimously approved a resolution designating 2020 the “Year of STEM/STEAM in Nashville.” On January 7, the Metro Council held a presentation ceremony to deliver the resolution to teacher leaders in the STEAM field.

Metro Council STEAM Resolution

As recognized in the resolution, STEM and STEAM teaching and learning have led to many experiences for MNPS' students and staff during the last two years, including:

“This resolution is important to Nashville because it continues to highlight the need for STEM/STEAM education as it relates to developing our next generation of problem solvers and innovators, which is critical for the sustainability of Nashville,” said Jennifer Berry, Ph.D., director of STEAM and Science at MNPS.

You can read the full resolution on the Metro Nashville site.

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