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O&R awards STEM grants to eight area school/scout groups

| 24 Jun 2015 | 09:38
    Photos provided In this þÄòSTEaMþÄô lesson, North Main fifth-grade students test their cars and measure the distance they traveled under different conditions, then record the data.
    Photos provided In this þÄòSTEaMþÄô lesson, North Main fifth-grade students test their cars and measure the distance they traveled under different conditions, then record the data.
    Drop it! North Main third-graders anticipate their egg drop package design being dropped by North Main þÄòSTEaMþÄô teacher, Katie Oppelt. Will the raw egg survive?
    Drop it! North Main third-graders anticipate their egg drop package design being dropped by North Main þÄòSTEaMþÄô teacher, Katie Oppelt. Will the raw egg survive?
    Woodbury Boy Scout Troop 4 was award a $750 Orange & Rockland Utilities grant to support its plans to design and build two model rockets and enter those rockets into the finals of a national rocketry competition.
    Woodbury Boy Scout Troop 4 was award a $750 Orange & Rockland Utilities grant to support its plans to design and build two model rockets and enter those rockets into the finals of a national rocketry competition.
    Photos provided Gathering are some of the O&R STEM grant recipients, in the back row, from the left: Tom Christopher, left, of Orange-Ulster BOCES Career and Technical Education Center in Goshen; Menno Poutsma of Woodbury Boy Scout Troop 4;Thomas Blon of the Middletown High School Science Club; Katie Oppelt of North Main Elementary; Catherine OþÄôHara of Chester Elementary; O&R President and CEO Tim Cawley; and Allyson Smith of Tuxedo Park School. Front row: Azure Lewis, left, and Sandra Wittens of the Middletown Day Nursery; Tricia Rawnsley of Woodbury Boy Scout Troop 4;Chris Bennington-Ferrari of Minisink Valley Elementary School; and O&R Manager of Corporate Programs Linda Feger.
    Photos provided Gathering are some of the O&R STEM grant recipients, in the back row, from the left: Tom Christopher, left, of Orange-Ulster BOCES Career and Technical Education Center in Goshen; Menno Poutsma of Woodbury Boy Scout Troop 4;Thomas Blon of the Middletown High School Science Club; Katie Oppelt of North Main Elementary; Catherine OþÄôHara of Chester Elementary; O&R President and CEO Tim Cawley; and Allyson Smith of Tuxedo Park School. Front row: Azure Lewis, left, and Sandra Wittens of the Middletown Day Nursery; Tricia Rawnsley of Woodbury Boy Scout Troop 4;Chris Bennington-Ferrari of Minisink Valley Elementary School; and O&R Manager of Corporate Programs Linda Feger.

PEARL RIVER — Six area schools and one Boy Scout troop are the recipients of Orange & Rockland Utilities grants to support classroom projects and teacher professional-development initiatives focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The O&R STEM Classroom Grants - Pilot Program awarded 28 grants of up to $1,000 each, totaling $26,242.69 to educators at schools (pre-kindergarten through 12th grade) and youth group leaders for the 2015-16 school year in communities within O&R's service area.

Locally, these included:
North Main Elementary was awarded $959.20

Tuxedo Park School, $999
Woodbury Boy Scout Troop 4, $750

Chester Elementary, $1,000
Chester Academy, $650

Warwick Middle School, $961.38
Orange-Ulster BOCES Career and Technical Education Center in Goshen, $991.

"We're so proud to receive this grant from Orange and Rockland," said North Principal Matthew Kravatz. "It's evident they are committed to fostering scientific ideas in schools. We just happen to be the fortunate recipients of their generosity, We look forward to using this grant to purchase robotics kits for our students to use and somehow make North Main a building that is at the forefront of the STEaM movement."

Add an 'a'Kravatz's use of the acronym "STEaM" refers to the Monroe-Woodbury School District's addition of the arts, or "a" to its STEM curriculum.

This past school year, new "STEaM" curriculum was part of two courses for third and fifth-grade students.

That included a spiraled "Mouse Trap Contraptions" unit for third and fifth-grade EXPAND students as well as a six week unit for whole class instruction for third and fifth graders at Central Valley, North Main and Pine Tree.

Sixth-grade Middle School EXPAND students had new STEaM elements introduced into their "Create a World" course.

'Make these projects come alive'

Any creative classroom project designed to improve, advance and enrich student learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics was considered, according to an O&R statement.

Grants were awarded based on a review by the O&R Education Advisory Council, a panel of educators and an engineer assembled by O&R expressly for this process.

"Because science, technology, engineering and mathematics are integral to our business, O&R has actively supported educational efforts centered on these fields for many years," O&R President and CEO Tim Cawley said in the statement. "Now, we want to take that support to a higher level by each year dedicating significant, specific resources to foster development of innovative classroom initiatives that make these subjects come alive for students."

Other Orange County winners are: Minisink Valley Elementary School, $879.75; Middletown High School Science Club, $915; Circleville Elementary School, $958.50; Pine Bush High School, $980; Middletown Day Nursery,$994.95; and Anna S. Kuhl School in Port Jervis, $907.80.

- Nancy Kriz