West Fannin Elementary School was recently awarded two grants by the Tennessee Valley Authority and Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated, a TVA retiree association, for STEM education projects.
Fourth grade Math/Social Studies teacher Karen Goode received a $5,000 grant for water quality chemical and bacterial testing for the school’s stream, while STEM teacher Kim Patterson received a $3,500 grant for Kindergarten - 2nd grade robotics.
“The grant award is a part of $600,000 in competitive STEM grants awarded to 142 schools across TVA’s service territory,” Parent Liaison Shannon Cioffi said. “The competitive grant program provided teachers an opportunity to apply for funding up to $5,000 and preference was given to grant applications that explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic and career development and community problem solving.”
Cioffi further explained that it was a requirement for schools selected for the grant funding to receive their power from a TVA distributor.
TVA awarded $600,000 in grants to educators in public schools to develop STEM projects across the Tennessee Valley. TVA Public Relations Officer Josh Clendenen said the authority and retiree association received more than 290 grant requests this year and awarded 142 projects with grants.
“This is the second year we offered this program to the entire Valley and we saw a major increase in grant applications this year,” TVA Community Engagement Senior Program Manager Rachel Crickmar said. “There is a demand in the Valley for workforce development through STEM education, and I am proud of the way TVA and our retirees are responding to that demand by supporting teachers in the classroom.”