Investing in STEM experiences and futures for today's youth is starting to become a trend that the education world doesn't want to end anytime soon. Just recently, students in Florida and Kentucky were given new opportunities to explore STEM through grants.Thanks to AT&T Florida, nearly 150 Escambia County students will get the opportunity to explore STEM careers, through a grant received by the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation. AT&T Florida gave the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations a $100,000 grant to create STEM workplace experiences.
Pensacola News Journal reported that Ransom Middle and Escambia High will each receive $2,000 in grant money to give students hands-on learning opportunities outside the classroom that are directly linked to their coursework in STEM fields.
Ransom students benefiting from the grant money will build aquaponics systems to raise fish and provide plants for animals at the Roy Hyatt Environmental Center. An additional 22 multimedia student at Escambia High will take a hands-on tour of Nowak Enterprises, where they will get to see the multimedia production process. After that, using new cameras, students will come up with and produce short films for a project.
Over in Kentucky, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation provided their third grant through United Way of the Bluegrass to continue the successful STEM Academy, a community-based extended school day program in partnership with Fayette County Public Schools and First Bracktown, Inc.
The $70,000 grant was the third of a $170,000 total investmen by Chase in this program and will allow the STEM Academy to continue another year and expand to younger students. The program focuses on engaging African-American male middle school students in academically enriched out-of-school activities. To learn more on the grant, read Ky Forward's full report.
