Educators, especially those ones teaching any STEAM and technology classes, rely greatly on grant opportunities to acquire new instructional tools. For that reason, we provide two monthly tech grants in the amount of $500 each. Every month, we open up these opportunities to teachers from all around the United States. Any educator is eligible to apply, including classroom teachers, administrators, librarians, afterschool leaders, makerspace facilitators, and everybody in between. To help educators advance their STEM programs and initiatives, recipients can choose to use the award money on any items from our store. Fortunately, many EdTech and STEAM solutions from top manufacturers fit into the $500 window. And, if any awardees have their hearts set on something more costly, they can pay the difference. After all, the goal of this program is to get innovative tech tools in the hands of more students.
Educators can apply for these grant awards starting on the first day of the calendar month. The application will remain open for 20 days and it closes on the 20th of each month. We will notify the recipient of each grant award by the final business day of each month and send out an email announcement to our subscriber base as well. Recipients will then receive their grant materials in accordance with lead times on the products they request. These products can include anything from any category of our store. We encourage applicants to put thought and care into their application and to have an idea of which products they'll request upon selection. These may include robotics or coding kits, educational drones, makerspace supplies, or anything else on our store. Please contact our team with questions about the grant and also forward the application to anyone else in your school.
This month, we’ve selected Michael Jaber, a high school administrator from Sheboygan, WI as the recipient! Michael works at the Sheboygan South High School and he’s been brainstorming how to capitalize on the high levels of school spirit they have by brining as many students as possible together to work on a project for the whole school community.
To kick off 2022, we’re hearing from Allison Miller, an assistant principal in the Jackson R2 School District in Jackson, Missouri. Allison has seen students benefit from tech-based learning experiences in a number of ways, including enhanced authenticity, bringing the 4 Cs to life, and many other outcomes. Keep reading to learn more about her efforts!
Tania works with students from diverse backgrounds and understands the importance of creating equitable STEM opportunities. This factor certainly weighed into her decision when she was evaluating what to request as part of the award. Ultimately, she decided on Root Robots—largely due to their versatility. Head inside to learn more about her plans.
Like so many educators, Jolie has been challenged to find a creative way to continue providing STEM programming for kids from a distance. Many children and parents aren’t yet fully comfortable with in-person programs, so, with a little ingenuity, Jolie has adapted the museum’s offerings to allow for students to try various STEM activities at home.
After months of finalizing the structure of the grant opportunity and evaluating deserving applications, we’re pleased to announce that the two recipients are Anne Lotito-Schuh, a librarian from the Robert Frost Middle School in Deer Park, NY, and Margaret Fiorello, a makerspace manager at the Saint William the Abbot School in Seaford, NY!
Our newest Featured Educator is Patti Andreolas, an elementary teacher from Queens, NY. Patti has become involved in a variety of innovative projects with her students, helping them develop both hard and soft skills in the classroom. Whether it’s with physical or digital EdTech tools, she’s seen how hands-on learning can impact how students develop.
As always, we’re excited to see how the grant will help Bonni and her colleagues realize their collective mission of making greater progress in their STEM education programs. According to her, they’ve spent many years talking about how to evolve their STEM offerings and now find themselves in the right position to truly make it happen for their students.
In offering these grant opportunities, we’re looking for educators who have creative ideas for addressing these deficiencies. Whether your primary focus is on helping students overcome learning loss or boosting their social-emotional health, this award is designed to help teachers reclaim normalcy starting in the next few months.
Lori wants to give her unique children an opportunity to partake in student-centered, accessible, and collaborative learning opportunities, which mesh perfectly with maker education. In fact, she’s even thinking about modeling this space after a college library or maker studio to really help create much more of a real-world feel for all of her students.
Once she settles in to the new school year, Terri is committed to advancing STEAM opportunities for her students. She has a number of lesson plans in mind, including challenging students to find similarities and differences in projects each of them design, helping students deepen their understanding of curricular objectives, and boosting SEL strength.
