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$1 Million Grant awarded to STC Schools

Special To The News-Herald

Over the last year, Mary Jones, Superintendent of STC, has been working with the Mansfield Foundation to create a pathway for more of their grant money to serve our local community. And she found the answer in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). With the State of Iowa attempting to initiate job growth through advanced technology and manufacturing, employers will be in need of a STEM-educated workforce.

This new grant award is a joint venture between the South Tama County CSD and the Belle Plaine School District. The grant will award $100,000 a year for the next 10 years for each school district to implement a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum.

Superintendent Jones said, “After trying to get a STEM initiative started in the past couple of years and seeing it not succeed for a variety of reasons, I’m happy to report that this grant will now provide the ability for STC to have STEM offerings for all middle school students for at least the next ten years. This is the impetus we needed to offer long-lasting and cohesive STEM education for our students”.

Superintendent Jones and Middle School Principal Ben Adams have been collaborating on the STEM initiative and have designed this Grant to provide STEM classes to all six through eighth graders starting this fall. The grant provides for the additional STEM-certified teacher and intensive teacher training in a national STEM curriculum called Project Lead the Way: Pathways to Technology. Additionally, the grant will fund teacher collaboration between the two school districts in professional development, and connect with one of Iowa’s major universities, as well as, provide student opportunities in STEM fairs and field trips.

Principal Adams is elated by the news of the grant and said, “I am extremely excited about the opportunity to bring Project Lead the Way to South Tama Middle School. Students will engage in Design and Modeling, Robotics, and App Creation. In these courses students will learn to solve real world problems, think critically and creatively, communicate and collaborate. Project Lead the Way courses are relevant, engaging, and foundational to students’ future success.”

Superintendent Jones hopes we will use this initiative to increase the amount of project-based learning that all teachers begin to offer in their daily lessons. She believes our teachers must increase the engagement of students in their learning through innovation, creativity and student choice. “This STEM grant models the type of learning our students need to be successful in the 21st century.”