What do cardboard boat races, worm farms, robot coding and solar car design have in common? They are all recent classroom projects funded by STEM mini-grants from APS and the Phoenix Suns. And, effective immediately, Arizona K-12 teachers in public and charter schools within the APS service territory are invited to apply for STEM mini-grants for the 2016-17 school year. Grants will be awarded for teachers to implement innovative projects that help bring STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) to life.
For more than a decade, APS and the Phoenix Suns have partnered to promote STEM education in Arizona schools by offering $50,000 in mini-grants for hands-on projects focused on the STEM subjects. Grants of up to $2,500 each may be awarded, with a total of up to $50,000 available for the 2016-2017 school year.
“When students get to experience STEM subjects through interactive projects, something special happens,” said Tina Marie Tentori, Executive Director of the APS Foundation. “Whether the project is growing food through aquaponics and selling it at a farmers market, as was done by the Show Low High School STEM Club, or using lichen gardens to study climate change, a project taken on by seventh-grade science students at Flagstaff’s Northland Preparatory Academy, interactive learning creates a spark that often inspires students to pursue additional STEM studies, and eventually rewarding jobs in STEM-related careers.”
Teachers are invited to visit aps.com/corporategiving for program procedures, criteria and STEM mini-grants applications. There, they also will find a list of project summaries from the 2015-16 school year. Applications will be accepted online from August 8 to October 5, and recipients will be notified of the status of their application by November 8. For more information, teachers may contact Laura McBride, APS senior corporate giving specialist, at 602-250-2702 or by email at Laura.McBride@aps.com.
