Fairmont State STEM grant connects schools statewide

wajr_plugFAIRMONT, W.Va. — A $107,000 grant to the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc. will fund a program designed to increase student skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

“There are a number of STEM programs out there. This one, I think is really special because it also provides a way for teachers to network with each other and support each other across different schools and different counties,” explained Dr. Jeremy Price, Assistant Professor of Education in the Master of Education Digital Media, New Literacies and Learning program.

In a release, Fairmont State indicated the School of Education, Health and Human Performance and TEKids of Morgantown will partner to create “EnergyMakers”.

The curriculum will include the areas of Engineering Design, Earth and Human Activity and Energy for third- through fifth-graders.

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, source of the grant money, encourages human development in West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“We feel really honored to have been selected for this as a way to help build partnerships and provide really strong hands-on and authentic stem experiences for students in the region,” expressed Price.

The curriculum and technology are designed for students and educators at schools across the state to monitor shared data on a common project and communicate back and forth.

“The teachers are going to have fun doing this. They are going to learn from the experiences. And, the students are going to have fun and learn from the experiences. I think that is what is going to make it worth it,” Price said.

The grant team will be working with the following schools: Bruceton School (Bruceton Mills, Preston County), North Elementary School (Morgantown, Monongalia County), Nutter Fort Intermediate School (Nutter Fort, Harrison County), Ridgedale Elementary School (Morgantown, Monongalia County), and Woodsdale Elementary School (Wheeling, Ohio County). Bruceton, Nutter Fort and Ridgedale are members of the Fairmont State Professional Development Schools Partnership.