Rebekah Bozeman, STEM teacher at Lake City Elementary School, used her 2023 ORAU Education Grant to purchase building blocks, fort boards, interactive gloves, Spirographs, mazes and iPad minis to use in a variety of ways to teach kindergarten through sixth grade students.
ORAU is accepting applications for its Education Grants program for 2024, offering $30,000 in grant funding for teachers in five East Tennessee counties.
Educators in Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Roane and Scott County public schools are invited to submit proposals to fund programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). ORAU’s mission is to advance national priorities and serve the public interest by integrating academic, government and scientific resources—both locally and globally. The organization is committed to improving educational opportunities throughout the region.
“School systems are often under resourced when it comes to effectively teaching STEM topics in their schools,” said Pam Bonee, director of communications and marketing at ORAU. “Our Education Grants program gives teachers the opportunity to get some of the resources they need to give their students a leg up in STEM.”
Funds are available for projects to be carried out during the 2024-25 school year. ORAU has $30,000 available to support the Education Grants program. Educators who want their projects considered for ORAU funding should complete and submit an online proposal. All proposals are due by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, April 19.
Since the program’s inception in 2002, ORAU has awarded more than $551,000 to city schools in Clinton and Oak Ridge and schools in Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Roane and Scott counties in an ongoing effort to enrich STEM programs in the region.
In addition to the Education Grants program, ORAU annually funds its Extreme Classroom Makeover competition with $32,500 available for teachers to purchase new technology for their classrooms.
Projects will be funded based on quality, educational enrichment, creativity and available funds. Awards will be announced this summer, and recipients will be notified by phone. Questions should be directed to Michael Holtz, who can be reached at (865) 466-0701 or michael.holtz@orau.org.