Murray Independent School District Awarded TVA STEM Education Grant
Murray, Ky., Feb. 5. 2021------ Mechelle Morgan, Murray Independent School District Digital (MISD) Learning Coach, announced MISD is the recipient of a $5,000 STEM Classroom Grant by the Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated. The grant will be used in all MISD STEM (science, technology, education and math) education projects.
TVA and its partners have awarded $800,000 in STEM Grants for the 2020-2021 school year to 140 schools located in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. (Murray is one of the six Kentucky schools awarded: Benton, Bowling Green, Elkton, Glasgow, Hopkinsville, and Morgantown). MISD competed with almost 400 applications requesting over $1.2 million in award funding.
Morgan said funds will be used to purchase Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology for the classroom through the Exploring the World with AR/VR program, alongside other technology tools that MISD currently offers to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) education. “These funds will be used to purchase technology tools and programs that will allow students to explore the world through virtual field trips and interact with the digital world. We feel honored to be one of only two Western Kentucky school districts to receive this grant. These tools will allow students to see places and things they normally aren’t able to experience.”
The competitive grant program provided teachers an opportunity to apply for funding up to $5,000 and preference was given to grant applications that explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic and career development and community problem solving. Schools who receive grant funding must receive their power from a TVA distributor.