NASHVILLE, TN – The Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated, a TVA retiree organization, announced this week the award of $600,000 in grants to educators in public schools to develop science, technology, engineering, and math education projects all across the Tennessee Valley.
The competitive STEM classroom grant program, operated in partnership with Battelle Education, received more than 290 grant requests from across TVA’s seven state service territory.
“This is the second year we offered this program to the entire Valley and we saw a major increase in grant applications this year,” said Community Engagement Senior Program Manager Rachel Crickmar. “There is a demand in the Valley for workforce development through STEM education and I am proud of the way TVA and our retirees are responding to that demand.”
Rachel Crickmar
“Thanks to this continued support, students in six states will experience hands-on learning in new and exciting ways,” said Wes Hall, interim senior vice president for Education and Philanthropy at Battelle. “TVA and BVI are growing awareness of STEM education and its importance throughout the Valley.
Among the 142 grant awards is “Aquaponics Workforce” at Mount Juliet High School in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Students will benefit from work-based learning with the aquaponics tanks. “Having funding for this versatile project is a great boost to our agriculture program,” said teacher Lindsay Nicholas. “Students will be setting rations and balances, weighing fish, monitoring nutrition, learning food processing and testing water and pH. Ag classes will also be keeping up with care and maintenance of the fish and water and will be learning to cycle fish manure to use as fertilizer for plants in the greenhouse. It truly is a project that every Ag class can have part in to learn how to manage a whole system.”
Another project that received funding is in rural Byrdstown, Tennessee, where first year math teacher, Maria Holt, is excited to answer the question she is often asked by students, “When will I ever use this math?” “Telling student the benefits of math and showing them are two different things. I’m excited that I will be able to purchase equipment to use for projects where students can see how math is used in some of the careers they might be interested in pursuing. Thanks to TVA and BVI, I now have the tools to increase students’ drive and motivation in mathematics.”
In New Albany, Mississippi, the vision of New Albany School District is “Preparing ALL for Success.” That is what New Albany Middle School will be doing with their grant. The school plans to implement and “IMAGINE STEM Lab” that all students will rotate through on a weekly basis as part of their technology seminar classes. This project will allow all students of all academic abilities to have access to hands-on STEM learning.
Across the valley, educators submitted projects large and small, to further STEM education initiatives in the classroom.
“The projects were all across the STEM spectrum,” said Crickmar. “We had requests for traditional things like science lab and robotics equipment, but we also had projects where students are challenged with designing energy efficient housing and building prototypes of inventions created to assist senior citizens in their communities. We had a great cross-section of applications that were very representative of life in the Valley.”
The competitive grant program provided teachers an opportunity to apply for funding up to $5,000 and preference was given to grant applications that explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic and career development and community problem solving. Schools who receive grant funding must receive their power from a TVA distributor.
2020 Grant Recipients
| TVA STEM Classroom Grant Recipient | Grant Award | City | State | Project Name |
| A.H. Roberts Elementary | $3,500 | Livingston | Tennessee | Exploring Robotics and Digital Apps Coding in a Special Education Classroom |
| Aberdeen Elementary School | $2,500 | Aberdeen | Mississippi | Explore Program for gifted and talented students |
| Adamsville Elementary | $5,000 | Adamsville | Tennessee | Growing Knowledge Greenhouse |
| Adamsville High School | $5,000 | Adamsville | Tennessee | Avoiding Constriction by Embracing Python |
| Alcoa High School | $5,000 | Alcoa | Tennessee | Alcoa Mechatronics-Powering the Future–Through Efficient and Effective Energy Management |
| Alcorn Central High School | $1,000 | Glen | Mississippi | Keystone- Freshman Focus class |
| Amherst Elementary | $5,000 | Knoxville | Tennessee | Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing |
| Anderson Early Childhood Center | $3,500 | Brownsville | Tennessee | Growing Kids- Growing Green |
| Antioch High School MNPS | $5,000 | Antioch | Tennessee | STEM |
| Battle Creek Elementary School | $5,000 | Spring Hill | Tennessee | STEM |
| Bearden High School | $1,500 | Knoxville | Tennessee | Cybersecurity Program |
| Bolivar Middle School | $5,000 | Bolivar | Tennessee | Library Maker Space |
| Bowling Green High School | $1,000 | Bowling Green | Kentucky | Physics and Chemistry |
| Brainerd High School | $1,500 | Chattanooga | Tennessee | Robotics Club |
| Brickey-McCloud Elementary | $5,000 | Knoxville | Tennessee | STEM Arts Classroom |
| Bridgeport Middle School | $5,000 | Bridgeport | Alabama | Innovation Center |
| Candy’s Creek Cherokee Elementary School | $5,000 | Cleveland | Tennessee | Tactile Coding/Technology Class |
| Cedar Grove Elementary | $1,000 | Smyrna | Tennessee | Full STEAM Ahead |
| Chadwell Elementary | $5,000 | Madison | Tennessee | Chadwell’s Engineering and Robotics Program |
| Challenger Middle School | $1,500 | Huntsville | Alabama | Challenger Middle Greenpower STEM |
| Chandler’s Elementary School | $5,000 | Russellville | Kentucky | Chandler’s Innovator’s Club and STEM Lab |
| Charleston Elementary STEAM Academy | $5,000 | Charleston | Tennessee | Building Engineers and Computer Coders |
| Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts | $5,000 | Chattanooga | Tennessee | Art of Technology – Voice-operated prosthetic device collaboration. |
| Cherokee County Schools | $5,000 | Murphy | North Carolina | Building a Data Collection and Analysis Network via the Internet of Things |
| Chestnut Grove Elementary | $5,000 | Decatur | Alabama | STEM |
| Claiborne High School | $5,000 | New Tazewell | Tennessee | Large Animal Science/Agriscience |
| Clarkrange High School | $2,500 | Clarkrange | Tennessee | Robotics/STEM |
| Clyde Riggs Elementary | $2,500 | Portland | Tennessee | Planting the Seed Through Technology |
| CMSD Elementary Schools | $5,000 | Columbus | Mississippi | Differentiating Coding in CMSD |
| Coalfield | $5,000 | Coalfield | Tennessee | Middle School STEM |
| Cockrill Elementary | $1,500 | Nashville | Tennessee | Robots and Mentors |
| Colbert County High School | $5,000 | Leighton | Alabama | Technology Education – Energy and the Environment |
| Columbia Central High School | $5,000 | Columbia | Tennessee | CHS STEM Club’s “Smart” Power Project |
| Cordova Elementary Optional School | $5,000 | Cordova | Tennessee | Coding: Robots in the Library |
| Cornersville High | $5,000 | Cornersville | Tennessee | Applied Math Acceleration |
| Cosby Elementary School | $5,000 | Cosby | Tennessee | Community Problem Solving Studio |
| Culleoka Unit School | $5,000 | Culleoka | Tennessee | Alternative Energy with Wind, Structural Engineering and Technologies |
| Cumberland Gap High School | $5,000 | Cumberland Gap | Tennessee | Introduction to Collision Repair/Collision Repair Non-Structural/Career Exploration |
| Dandridge Elementary School | $5,000 | Dandridge | Tennessee | STEM |
| Decherd Elementary | $5,000 | Decherd | Tennessee | Building STEM through an Outdoor Tree House |
| Discovery School | $2,500 | Murfreesboro | Tennessee | Greenhouse Challenge: Farmer vs. Bot! |
| Dr. William Burrus Elementary | $5,000 | Hendersonville | Tennessee | STEM and Environmental Science |
| Drakes Creek Middle School | $5,000 | Bowling Green | Kentucky | Ideas Made Real |
| E.A. Cox Middle School | $1,500 | Columbia | Tennessee | STEM |
| Elk Valley Elementary | $5,000 | Pioneer | Tennessee | Classroom Computing |
| Erma Siegel Elementary | $5,000 | Murfreesboro | Tennessee | STEMulating Young Engineers |
| Fairview Attendance Center | $5,000 | Golden | Mississippi | Digital and Visual Presentations and Projects |
| Farragut Primary School | $3,500 | Knoxville | Tennessee | Building a Future of Thinkers with STEM |
| Florence Middle School | $3,500 | Florence | Alabama | Computer Science |
| Forest Hills Elementary School | $5,000 | Florence | Alabama | Coding with Dash |
| Glenwood Elementary | $5,000 | Oak Ridge | Tennessee | Engineering a Brighter Future |
| Gordonsville High School | $5,000 | Gordonsville | Tennessee | Making Space for STEM Project |
| Grissom High School | $5,000 | Huntsville | Alabama | Greenpower |
| Hampshire Unit School | $5,000 | Hampshire | Tennessee | STEM in Reading/Language Arts |
| Harlan Elementary | $5,000 | Florence | Alabama | From Buried Seeds to Growing STEMs: Our Futures are GEMS |
| Harrison Bay Future Ready Institute | $2,500 | Ooltewah | Tennessee | STEM |
| Haywood High School | $3,500 | Brownsville | Tennessee | STEM |
| Haywood Middle School | $2,500 | Brownsville | Tennessee | STEM |
| HEART Academy @ Julian Newman Elementary | $5,000 | Athens | Alabama | Think, Create, Build |
| Heritage Middle School | $5,000 | Ringgold | Georgia | STEM |
| Hobgood Elementary | $5,000 | Murfreesboro | Tennessee | STEM-Based Augmented Reality Sandbox Project |
| Horace Maynard Middle School | $2,500 | Maynardville | Tennessee | STEM and the Community |
| Houston County High School | $5,000 | Erin | Tennessee | Irish Greenhouse |
| Huntingdon High School | $3,500 | Huntingdon | Tennessee | Soil Analysis |
| Huntsville High School | $5,000 | Huntsville | Alabama | GreenpowerUSA Race Team Custom Car Build |
| Ingram Sowell Elementary | $5,000 | Lawrenceburg | Tennessee | Project Mindstorm |
| Inskip Elementary School | $5,000 | Knoxville | Tennessee | Bring our technology into the 21st century! |
| Itawamba Agricultural High School | $3,500 | Fulton | Mississippi | The 3RRRs and 3D Printing |
| Itawamba Career and Technical Center | $5,000 | Fulton | Mississippi | Start Here. Go Anywhere. |
| J.E. Woodard Elementary | $3,500 | Columbia | Tennessee | STEM |
| J.R. Baker Elementary School | $1,000 | Columbia | Tennessee | Circuits and Coding in Our World |
| John F Kennedy Middle School | $5,000 | Antioch | Tennessee | STEAM-Centered Makerspace |
| John Overton High School | $5,000 | Nashville | Tennessee | Community Garden and Outdoor Classroom |
| Kilby Laboratory School | $5,000 | Florence | Alabama | Operation: Infrastructure Make-Over |
| Lafayette High School | $1,500 | Oxford | Mississippi | STEM |
| Lebanon High School | $3,500 | Lebanon | Tennessee | Remote Control Project |
| Lenoir city middle school | $5,000 | Lenoir city | Tennessee | STEM: Adaptive Technology |
| Lewisburg School | $5,000 | Lewisburg | Kentucky | Technology to Support Lewisburg School Student Projects in STEM |
| Liberty Middle | $3,500 | Madison | Alabama | History through Technology |
| Madison Elementary School | $2,500 | Madison | Alabama | Conquering Global Goals through Collaboration and Coding. |
| Marvin Wright Elementary | $1,500 | Spring Hill | Tennessee | Gardening in the 21st Century: Leading the Way in Food Security Solutions |
| Maryville High School | $5,000 | Maryville | Tennessee | Blount County Robotics Team 4504 |
| McBride Elementary School | $5,000 | Muscle Shoals | Alabama | Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade STEM Science classes |
| McNairy Central High School | $1,500 | Selmer | Tennessee | McNairy Central High School LRE |
| Michie Elementary School | $2,500 | Michie | Tennessee | Steaming Forward into the Future |
| Middleton High School | $5,000 | Middleton | Tennessee | STEM |
| Milam Elementary | $5,000 | Tupelo | Mississippi | Building Circuits Bit by Bit |
| Millington Middle School | $5,000 | Millington | Tennessee | STEM and VEX VRC |
| Mt. Juliet High School | $5,000 | Mt. Juliet | Tennessee | Aquaponics Workforce |
| Mt. Pleasant Elementary School | $5,000 | Mt. Pleasant | Tennessee | STEM Program/Read to be Ready |
| Murphy High School | $5,000 | Murphy | North Carolina | Sphero BOLT to the Top |
| Murray Middle School | $5,000 | Murray | Kentucky | STEAM |
| Muscle Shoals Middle School | $1,000 | Muscle Shoals | Alabama | The Grand Energy Race: Panels vs. Power |
| Nanih Waiya Attendance Center | $3,500 | Louisville | Mississippi | STEM |
| Neshoba Central Middle School | $5,000 | Philadelphia | Mississippi | STEM |
| New Albany Middle School | $5,000 | New Albany | Mississippi | IMAGINE STEM Lab |
| North Stewart Elementary School | $5,000 | Big Rock | Tennessee | STEM for All |
| Northview Middle School | $5,000 | Newbern | Tennessee | STEM |
| Oliver Springs High School | $5,000 | Oliver Springs | Tennessee | After School Electric Car Club |
| Park View Elementary | $5,000 | Cleveland | Tennessee | Cleared For Takeoff |
| Pickett County K-8 School | $5,000 | Byrdstown | Tennessee | Math & STEM |
| Red Cross Elementary School | $5,000 | Glasgow | Kentucky | STEAM Lab |
| Rockvale Middle School | $3,500 | Rockvale | Tennessee | STEM, Coding, Science, and Math classes |
| Rocky Fork Middle School | $2,500 | Smyrna | Tennessee | STEM |
| Rose Park Magnet Math and Science Middle School, MNPS | $5,000 | Nashville | Tennessee | Encore |
| Russellville Middle School | $5,000 | Russellville | Alabama | App Creators Course |
| Salem Elementary | $3,500 | Murfreesboro | Tennessee | Salem Elementary (school-wide) |
| Sam Houston Elementary | $3,500 | Maryville | Tennessee | STEM – Electrical Circuits |
| Section High School | $5,000 | Section | Alabama | Coding, Careers, and Inventors, Oh My! |
| Sequoyah High School | $5,000 | Madisonville | Tennessee | A STEMulating Proposal for Expanding the Sequoyah High School Summer Robotic Camp |
| Shannon Primary and Middle Schools | $5,000 | Shannon | Mississippi | Career Awareness with STEM |
| Skyline HS | $5,000 | Skyline | Alabama | Underwater ROVs for Marine and Environmental Science |
| Soddy Daisy Middle School | $2,500 | Soddy Daisy | Tennessee | Civil War Maps |
| South Gibson County High School | $5,000 | Medina | Tennessee | STEM |
| South Warren High School | $5,000 | Bowling Green | Kentucky | Computer Science Pathway for High Demand Career Opportunities |
| Sparkman Middle School | $5,000 | Toney | Alabama | STEM |
| Spring Hill Elementary | $1,000 | Spring Hill | Tennessee | No Dirt-No Problem! School-wide STEM Vertical Gardening |
| Stevenson Elementary School | $5,000 | Stevenson | Alabama | Stevenson Elementary School STEM Lab |
| Stewart County Middle School | $5,000 | Dover | Tennessee | STEM |
| Stuart Burns Elementary School | $2,500 | Burns | Tennessee | STEM |
| Sullivan East High School | $5,000 | Bluff City | Tennessee | Physics & Chemistry |
| Sunbright | $3,500 | Sunbright | Tennessee | STEM |
| Surgoinsville Elementary School | $3,500 | Surgoinsville | Tennessee | STEM |
| Tara Oaks Elementary School | $5,000 | Collierville | Tennessee | Butterfly Grove |
| Tennessee School for the Blind | $5,000 | Nashville | Tennessee | STEM, Aquaponics |
| Tharptown Elementary School | $5,000 | Russellville | Alabama | STEM fun in 4th Grade |
| The Learning Center! Charter School | $3,500 | Murphy | North Carolina | Living History Museum project |
| Three Oaks Middle School | $5,000 | Dyersburg | Tennessee | Three Oaks STEM Sustainable Greenhouse |
| Tracy City Elementary School | $5,000 | Tracy City | Tennessee | What Can You Build? |
| Tupelo Career-Technical Center | $5,000 | Tupelo | Mississippi | Automotive, Collision, Digital Media, Early Childhood, Engineering, Marketing & Welding |
| Van Buren County Middle/High School | $5,000 | Spencer | Tennessee | Physical Science, Biology, and Chemistry Departments |
| Vinemont Middle | $1,500 | Vinemont | Alabama | STEM |
| Washburn | $5,000 | Washburn | Tennessee | Math Club |
| Weakley County Schools | $5,000 | Dresden | Tennessee | Mobile STEM Labs |
| Weir Elementary School | $3,500 | Weir | Mississippi | S.T.E.M. (Student Teacher Education Materials) Resource Check-out |
| West Creek Middle School | $1,000 | Clarksville | Tennessee | STEM after school program |
| West Fannin Elementary | $5,000 | Blue Ridge | Georgia | West Fannin Chemical and Bacterial Water Testing Program |
| West Fannin Elementary School | $3,500 | Blue Ridge | Georgia | STEM Lab – Dash Robots |
| West Limestone High School | $5,000 | Lester | Alabama | Tech Team |
| Westhills Elementary School | $5,000 | Lewisburg | Tennessee | Questioning the Keyboard |
| Whitsitt Elementary | $5,000 | Nashville | Tennessee | Technology Class, STEAM Class and Physical education class |
| Williamson County Schools | $5,000 | Franklin | Tennessee | Breaking Down School Walls |
| Wilson County Schools | $5,000 | Lebanon | Tennessee | Imagination Station STEM Bus |
