TVA partnership awards STEM grants to local schools

Jan. 23—The Tennessee Valley Authority recently awarded the HEART Academy at Julian Newman Elementary, the SPARK Academy at Cowart Elementary, and the Athens Renaissance School grants to supplement STEM education.

The program received 458 grant applications this year, and 238 were selected for funding. This year, the program will support about 136,000 students across seven states with hands-on STEM activities.

Grants up to $5,000 were awarded in a competitive process, and preference was given to grant applications that explored TVA's primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic development, and community problem-solving.

"The process for applying for this grant was back in October. We had to answer a series of questions to make sure that our program was going to be equitable and include 'STEM for All,'" HEART Lab Specialist Diane Trout explained.

SPARK Lab Specialist Jennifer Kennedy added, "we applied with TVA by submitting a brief application and budget and we were informed our proposals were chosen shortly after the first of the year."

HEART will use the grant to add 2 new new LulzBot Mini 2 3D printers to its lab, as well as flex beds ad filament to support the printers.

"Students have enjoyed creating on Tinkercad and printing on the 2 printers we already have. Adding 2 more printers will increase how fast students receive their creations and how often they will get to use them," Trout said. "It basically lets each class per grade have a printer dedicated to them when working on a project."

Students will use the printers to develop solutions to problems.

"For example, when we designed instruments in first-grade sound unit, a student created a trumpet but couldn't figure out how to make a mouthpiece like he had seen when the band visited. He asked if we could make one in Tinkercad," Trout said. "So we worked together, by looking at basic shapes, to take make it, and it worked!"

At SPARK the grant will expand indoor hydroponic growing abilities and refresh the outdoor growing spaces.

"SPARK students will have daily access to a hydroponic growing tower in their classroom. This funding will double our growing capabilities and will allow students to observe and measure plant growth daily as opposed to currently, when they make those observations every other week," Kennedy explained.

She went on to explain, "this will double the number of seedlings we have available to transplant into our gardens each spring. Our students will be able to observe and understand the process of growing, harvesting and consuming plants with a pure farm-to-table experience."

The grant will also expand 3D printing capabilities by funding a new 3D printer to be housed in the STEM lab.

"This printer will be used by our elementary students to create plant markers for the garden," Kennedy said. "Students will use Tinkercad or other 3D modeling software to create the signs as they learn about 3D shapes, additive manufacturing, and career opportunities available in the Tennessee Valley."

Athens Renaissance hopes to see its Botanical Enrichment Area at the main campus recognized as an official Alabama Wildlife Habitat.

"I wrote the TVA grant to get funds to purchase items necessary for these supplemental pieces — items such as digital weather instruments, field journals, water pumps and moisture sensors with electronic components for students to code, birdhouses, insect hotels, an aquaponics tower for indoor gardening, binoculars, and water and sand tables," STEM Specialist Taylor Whisenant explained.

Botanical studies is not a new subject area for students at ARS.

"In the fall, students in mixed grade-level groups rotated between multiple stations in which they learned about aspects of civilizations and developed their own languages, constellation myths, plant dyes, natural musical instruments, sundials, and sports," Whisenant said. "Now, students are in groups (K-2 or 3-5) in which they are learning about different aspects of or reasons for planting different plants."

Students are learning about companion planting, pollinators, culinary planting, and planting for dyes and fragrances.

"In a few weeks, the students will use these experiences to decide what to plant in our garden, and then, they will work on supplemental aspects of the garden, such as water elements, weather stations, arts and music integration, an informational app and planting guide, physical structures like benches, vermiculture, pollinator habitats, and more," she said.

Much of Whisenant's grant-writing focus is related to robotics, but she is excited to contribute to the development of a nature-based learning area for Renaissance student.

"I love that this project incorporates so many skills beyond just planting seeds," she said. "Students will be able to use arts, geometry, coding, construction, research, and presentation skills to create a common space for so many learning opportunities, benefitting future students. It's really exciting to be a part of this."

The News Courier will follow up with Limestone County Schools regarding the Limestone Career-Technical Center and Tanner Elementary School receiving STEM grants from the TVA.