Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and Tennessee Valley Authority Partner to Open 27 STEM Centers in 7 States

TUPELO, MS  – The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation (CRSF) today announced a $1.1M partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the nation’s largest public power supplier. The project, announced on National STEM Day, will include installation of 27 fully equipped science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) centers in seven states. The announcement was made as CRSF and TVA celebrated the opening of their first STEM Center at the Tupelo City-Haven Boys & Girls Club in North Mississippi. 

“We’re excited to partner with the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation to help provide opportunities for children across our region,” said Jeannette Mills, Executive Vice President of TVA. “Our commitment to STEM has always been at the heart of TVA’s mission, and this new initiative gives us the chance to make an even more tangible impact and investment on the future of the STEM workforce.”

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Hall of Famer and CRSF co-founder Cal Ripken, Jr. attended Wednesday morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

“I believe that we can do a lot of good things on our own, but with dedicated partners we can achieve great things. Our partnership with Tennessee Valley Authority is evidence of that. In 2016 we started to learn more about the need for young people to have access to STEM education, so we decided to make that part of our work,” said Cal Ripken, Jr. “The fact that today we are opening our 400th STEM Center just blows me away and with partners across the country and the need remaining critical we aren’t slowing down.”

All 27 TVA STEM Centers, which will be open by the end of 2023, will provide youth with opportunities to engage with state-of-the-art STEM tools such as snap circuits, bee-bots, and ozobots, each designed to push students to improve their problem solving and critical thinking skills. 

“These resources will allow us to provide students with enhanced and unique hands-on learning activities,” said Zell Long, President and CEO of the Tupelo City-Haven Boys & Girls Club of North Mississippi. “We feel fortunate to be able to partner with these two wonderful organizations to bring these supplemental instructional resources to our community.” 

List of 27 New TVA STEM Centers: 

Boys & Girls Club of Ardmore                                          Ardmore            AL 

Boys & Girls Club of Athens                                             Athens                AL 

Girls Incorporated of Huntsville                                      Huntsville           AL 

Boys and Girls Club of North Alabama- Seminole Club    Huntsville           AL 

Rescue Me Project                                                             Sheffield             AL 

Boys and Girls Clubs of Chattooga County                   Dalton                GA 

Genesis Express in Cadiz                                                  Cadiz                   KY 

Boys & Girls Clubs of Franklin-Simpson                        Franklin               KY 

Fulton County Schools                                                      Hickman             KY 

Boys & Girls Clubs of Golden Triangle (Starkville Club)    Starkville            MS 

Tupelo City-Haven B&GC                                                 Tupelo                MS 

21^st Century Community Learning Center                     Murphy               NC          

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mountain Empire              Bluff City             TN 

Boys and Girls Clubs of Chattanooga                             Chattanooga     TN 

Millard Oakley STEM in Cookeville                                  Cookeville          TN 

Boys & Girls Clubs of Hatchie River Region                   Covington          TN 

Boys and Girls   Fairview Club                                          Fairview              TN 

Boys & Girls Clubs of Jackson                                          Jackson               TN 

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley              Knoxville             TN 

Northaven Elementary                                                     Memphis            TN 

Boys & Girls Club Greater Memphis JUICE PLUS+        Memphis            TN 

Bedford County Boys and Girls Club                              Shelbyville          TN 

Gateway STEM Center                                                      Springfield         TN 

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Ocoee Region                    Sweetwater       TN 

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Cumberland Plateau         Oneida               TN  

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley              Rocky Top          TN  

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mountain Empire              Bristol                 VA 

About the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation:  

The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation helps to strengthen America’s most underserved and distressed communities by supporting and advocating for children, building Youth Development Parks and STEM Centers, partnering with law enforcement and youth-service agencies, and addressing community needs through its national program initiatives. With the addition of Tupelo, CRSF will have opened 400 STEM Centers nationwide, gifting children in communities across the country a new access to state-of-the-art technology, hands-on learning experiences, and skill sets essential to the future of STEM.  

Click here to learn more about CRSF’s 400 STEM Centers in 23 states impacting over 132,000 kids.

Media Release/Madison McGovern/Account Coordinator/Maroon PR