STEM grants awarded

Each year teachers work with limited classroom budgets to ensure students have the supplies and tools necessary to learn. Many of the projects awarded this year, even ones requesting as little as a few hundred dollars, would not happen without these microgrants. The STEM Hub received a record-breaking number of applications this year, but was able to fund only 44 percent of the requests.

This year’s application was open to teachers in Klickitat and Skamania county in addition to the STEM Hub’s five-county service area in Oregon, which includes Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman, Wasco and Wheeler counties.

Projects awarded had a strong focus on hands-on learning and collaboration. For example, several teachers submitted applications as a team, intending to implement hands-on lessons in multiple classrooms, across grade levels, and even in collaboration with neighboring schools.

Additionally, some projects focused on building skills with technology students may use in their future careers. Sherman County teacher Tyler Dearborn, who was awarded a STEM Hub Microgrant to help purchase a 3D printer, said “The technology also grants access to a tool that is used across many manufacturing and engineering industries, widening our students’ exposure to country-wide industries.”

Several of the projects this year were awarded to schools in more remote communities. Margaret Takagi of Condon Child Care said that “for many of our young students, our ability to bring STEM tools and opportunities here will be the only way for them to explore this knowledge.”

Microgrant recipients

Math & Science Tools for Early Learning—Margaret Takagi, Condon Child Care

Digital Literacy, Coding, and Math with OSMO—Tess Welk, Dry Hollow Elementary

K-2 Little Engineers Building Club—Kate Cannon, Mosier Community School

LEGO WeDo for STEM-Based Learning—Won Kim, Kristi Meyers, and Gus Hedberg, Parkdale Elementary School

3D Printer for May Street Elementary—Tom Dalbey and Kate Getchis, May Street Elementary School

K-5 Coding Skills with Ozobot Evos—Pam Turley and Debi Gallagher, May Street and Westside elementary schools

Thermal Powered Spinning Luminaries—Erika Doring, Mill A School District

Drone Engineering Lesson Start-up Supplies—David Scharfenberg and Patrick Getchis, Hood River and Wy’east middle schools

Vernier Science Lab Equipment—Kelly Cunningham, Klickitat School District

Vinyl CNC Design & Cutting Tools—Del Medenbach, Lyle School District

3D Printer—Tyler Dearborn, Sherman County School

Surgical Robots Integrative Lesson—Jenny Collins and Nancy Wilson, Dufur School

Housed within the Columbia Gorge Education Service District, the Columbia Gorge STEM Hub is a collective impact organization, partnering with local schools, businesses, and non-profits to expand STEM opportunities for all students in the Columbia River Gorge. You can find out more about the STEM Hub, join the coalition, or make a donation to support similar grants, by visiting www.gorgeSTEM.org.