The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced Monday it has awarded $1.5 million in STEM classroom grants to educators in public schools to “develop science, technology, engineering, and math education projects across the Tennessee Valley region.”
TVA made the announcement in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Inc. (BVI), a TVA retiree organization. The program, which began accepting applications from educators in August, received 715 grant applications total.
We awarded $1.5 million in STEM grants to schools in the Tennessee Valley! With our grants, teachers can fund coding, robotics, renewables, and more projects. View the complete list of recipients here: https://t.co/mxrVpqKVUa #STEM pic.twitter.com/JtX5kObUX3
— Tennessee Valley Authority (@TVAnews) November 27, 2023
Through a competitive process, 343 applications were selected to receive the grants, which were up to $5,000.
“TVA is committed to supporting schools and educators who are inspiring an interest in STEM education in students across our seven-state region, as we know our young people will design and build the energy systems of the future,” Jeannette Mills, TVA executive vice president and chief external relations officer said in a statement. “Providing resources and access to STEM education is key to inspiring innovation and interest. We’re proud to invest in the next generation’s visionaries.”
Any school that receives their power from a local power company served by TVA was eligible to apply for the grant program. TVA provides electricity for 153 local power companies serving 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states – Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia.
TVA says applications that “explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic development, and community problem-solving” were given preference for funding.
In Lewisburg, Tennessee, for example, Westhills Elementary School was awarded grant funding through TVA’s program for a student project called, “Is It Hot or Not.” The project, according to TVA, will allow students to conduct an investigation to demonstrate how thermal energy moves among objects through radiation, conduction, or convection using thermal cameras and infrared thermometers.
Last year, the energy company distributed $1 million in STEM classroom grants. Since 2018, TVA and BVI have provided nearly $6.5 million in STEM grants supporting over 600,000 students.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “STEM Class” by TVA.
