Gravely Grants Support Classroom STEM Exploration

The 2018 Gravely Grants for STEM Teachers have provided students with hands-on experiences in STEM subjects. The awards, which range from $500 to $1,000, are used by teachers to purchase classroom supplies for STEM-related activities inside and outside of the classroom. Many teachers focus on robotics and programming, such as Alisa Janiski, whose students at Roye-Williams Elementary School in Havre de Grace, Maryland, built and programmed basic robots using electronics kits.

Other teachers, such as Erin Peck in Warner Robins, Georgia, supported clubs and extracurricular enrichment. She helped the Thomson Middle School Science Olympiad team deepen their knowledge and demonstrate their ability in areas across the STEM spectrum, including testing and maintaining thermodynamic systems, building a circuit lab and testing water quality. They earned second place in the regional Olympiad competition and advanced to the state competition.

Casey Davidow from West Education Campus in Washington, D.C., sums up the impact the grant has had on her students: “They are loving coding, and are so excited to use their coding skills to create games, apps and to one day get great jobs!”

Since 2010, the AFCEA Educational Foundation has invested more than $1.2 million in teachers who are providing innovative STEM learning opportunities in their classrooms. These funds have directly impacted more than 60,000 students in elementary through high school across the United States.

Applications for 2019 Gravely Grants are now open at foundation.afcea.org. Apply before the deadline of July 31.