Caldwell County School District has been awarded a grant to be used for STEM programs thanks to a rural education organization.
According to a release the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education partnered with local farmers throughout the nation to nominate rural schools and awarded more than $2.3 million in grants to enhance their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. As part of that initiative Caldwell County Schools received a $25,000 grant that will allow them to purchase tools that actively involve students in their own learning with scientific ways of thinking.
The release indicates that the district plan to purchase Chromebooks for 2nd and 4th grade science, science modules for the middle school, and equipment to advance instruction and hands-on opportunities in the high school’s agriculture department.
To qualify for a Grow Rural Education grant, farmers nominated a school or school district to compete for a merit-based grant of either $10,000 or $25,000. School districts that were nominated then submitted a grant application describing their STEM-focused project. Grow Rural Education’s Farmer Advisory Council, consisting of approximately 30 farmer leaders from across the country, reviewed the finalist applications and selected the winning school districts, including Caldwell County.
Since Grow Rural Education began in 2011, it has awarded more than $18 million to more than 1,000 schools in rural communities across the United States.
