Electric Utility Operations

Educating the Future Generation: Organizations Earn Grants For STEM Outreach Programs

Sept. 4, 2018

Students in rural and low-income communities will soon have access to experiential learning experiences, one-on-one hands mentoring and STEM education.

Amy Fischbach

Students in rural and low-income communities will soon have access to experiential learning experiences, one-on-one hands mentoring and STEM education through a $1 million program called the US2020 STEM Coalition Challenge.

“We established the STEM Challenge as a way to showcase communities across the country working to bring STEM mentorship and maker-centered learning opportunities to traditionally underrepresented students,” said Emily McCann, CEO of Citizen Schools in a release. “What we didn't quite anticipate was the overwhelming national response to the application --a clear demonstration that we need more support and partnership with these kinds of initiatives."

Out of 92 applicants, eight organizations were selected to share in the grant. For example, the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) is now able to expand its outreach efforts in STEM with a $50,000 cash award and best-practices training. SREL will offer STEM education to students in Allendale, South Carolina, a community said to be historically underserved. The team includes the Allendale School District, the South Carolina Promise Zone and the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization.

In addition, seven other community organizations were selected based upon four main criteria: impact, effective partnerships, creative engagement and sustainability. The other winners are as follows:

The Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Partnership - Buffalo, N.Y.
Project Exploration - Chicago, Illinois
The Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative - Cincinnati, Ohio
The Columbia Gorge STEM Hub - The Dalles, Oregon
The Idaho STEM Action Center - Boise, Idaho
Remake Learning - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The DC STEM Network - Washington D.C.

For more information, visit the Web site or read a report, titled "Making Mentor Moments."

About the Author

Amy Fischbach | Amy Fischbach, EUO Contributing Editor

Amy Fischbach is the Field Editor for T&D World magazine and manages the Electric Utility Operations section. She is the host of the Line Life Podcast, which celebrates the grit, courage and inspirational teamwork of the line trade. She also works on the annual Lineworker Supplement and the Vegetation Management Supplement as well as the Lineman Life and Lineman's Rodeo News enewsletters. Amy also covers events such as the Trees & Utilities conference and the International Lineman's Rodeo. She is the past president of the ASBPE Educational Foundation and ASBPE and earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Kansas State University. She can be reached at [email protected].