Grants awarded for STEAM initiative
Steadily, Southwestern Pennsylvania is garnering national attention as the region emerged as a leader in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics initiatives.
To encourage the growth and increase interest, Sarah McCluan, the spokeswoman for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, a branch of the state’s Department of Education, said the Claude Worthington Benedum and Grable foundations pumped more than $2 million into area schools since 2009.
“STEAM is needed to further develop the workforce,” McCluan said. “Budgetary restrictions made it difficult for schools to focus on these critical areas.”
Fort Cherry, Ringgold Area and Burgettstown Area school districts are among the list of schools in the region to benefit. All three were awarded $20,000 grants for the 2013-14 school year to help implement STEAM initiatives into their districts.
Lenni Nedley, the director of curriculum for Ringgold, said the grant was used to create a gaming and stimulations lab in the middle school. The lab includes software that allows students to create their own cities, and kits that allow students to implement a robotics component.
“The programming focuses on urban planning and environmental management,” Nedley said. “The students are using 21st century skills. It’s all very hands-on.”
Nedley said STEAM is an important concept for schools.
“If we focus on the students and expose them at an early age, it will expose students to what they could eventually do,” she said. “We are trying to grasp their interest.”
At Burgettstown, the district used its grant to create a professional-grade creative media center for the middle and high school students, complete with a television studio and editing equipment. Matt Grove, who teaches language arts and media, said the addition is benefiting the students and community alike, as students film events and live-stream them from highschoolcube.com and the district’s website.
Trisha Craig, the director of curriculum for Fort Cherry, said the district used its grant to create a space where junior and high school students can explore new technologies and programming. Craig said Fort Cherry was implementing STEAM programs throughout the district over the last couple years. She believes Fort Cherry received five, if not six, STEAM grants consecutively. Craig said Fort Cherry was announced as a winner for grant for the 2014-15 year. Plans and funds are already in place to create a “make shop,” an area that allows for collaborative and hands-on learning.
“(STEAM) allows students to be active in their education,” she said. “They are doing and learning, not just focusing on memorization.”
The 2013-2014 winners, 25 in total, were invited Thursday to the STEAM Showcase Open House in Pittsburgh to show how they used the grant.
Craig said she was excited to show others what they’ve done.
“The kids love it. The teachers have fun. There’s a lot of creativity happening,” she said.