Funding, Grants & Awards

New Jersey School Wins $50,000 for Promoting STEM Equity

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 12/10/14

New Jersey's Peshine Avenue Elementary School has received a $50,000 grant to improve access to tools for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

The school was awarded the grant, from Samsung, following a pilot program designed to inspire girls in grades 4 and 5 to pursue engineering and computer science careers by introducing them to people, technologies and processes behind software and hardware they may use in their own lives.

Dubbed Empower Tomorrow, the "program was first piloted at the Miller Street School in Newark, NJ, in the spring of 2014, and later at Peshine Avenue Elementary School in the fall of 2014," according to a news release. "The curriculum for the programs was developed by Discovery Education and licensed by Samsung. The grant will provide technology resources to sustain and expand the work that started with Empower Tomorrow."

"The United States must lead the globe in technology research and development, and we can't do that if we don't train and attract the best engineers, scientists and researchers," said U.S. Senator Booker, in a prepared statement. "STEM education in America is falling behind other nations, but engagement from the private sector, like we're seeing today from Samsung's announcement, is helping to turn that tide as we work to prioritize federal investment."