Earlier this month, 17 school districts in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware received a total of $260,000 in educational grants from America's Farmers Grow Rural Education.
The program, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, partners with farmers to help keep rural schools growing by supporting math and science education. Winning districts initiated innovative programs, including upgraded technology for hands-on learning, greenhouses and outdoor classroom instruction, laboratory advancements and curriculum development.
"Funding for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education can be challenging for rural school districts," says Michelle Insco, Monsanto Fund Program Officer. "Grow Rural Education is helping enhance opportunities for rural students by supporting critical math and science initiatives required for successful careers in agriculture and other industries."
The 2015 Northeast winners are...
Here are this year's Northeast school district winners and the programs they initiated:
Delaware
* Woodbridge School District, Greenwood, Del., Sprouting S.T.E.M. skills, $25,000
Maryland
* Caroline County Public Schools, Denton, Md., Active physical science-phase II, $25,000
* Wicomico County Public Schools, Salisbury, Md., Diary of a river, $10,000
New Jersey
* Salem County Vocational School, Woodstown, N.J., Expanding agricultural education, $10,000
New York
* Southern Cayuga Central School District, Aurora, N.Y., Agriculture, math, and technology unite, $25,000
* Le Roy Central School District, Le Roy, N.Y., Biotechnology, $10,000
* Alexandria Central School District, Alexandria Bay, N.Y., Going for the green year round, $25,000
* Canastota Central School District, Canastota, N.Y., Canastota aquaponics project, $10,000
* Avoca Central School, Avoca, N.Y., STEM initiative, $10,000
Pennsylvania
* Fleetwood Area School District, Fleetwood, Pa., Teaching biology without limits, $10,000
* Spring Cove School District, Roaring Spring, Pa., STEM expansion, $10,000
* Canton Area School District, Canton, Pa., Agricultural/science technology enhancements, $10,000
* Conneaut School District, Linesville, Pa., XYZ's of technology equipment and the science of materials, $10,000
* Northwestern School District, Albion, Pa., Sugar shack outdoor classroom, $25,000
* Tri-Valley School District, Hegins, Pa., Tri-Valley Grows by its STEM, $10,000
* Rockwood Area School District, Rockwood, Pa., Technology in agriculture, $25,000
* Meyersdale Area School District, Meyersdale, Pa., Agriscience greenhouse expansion, $10,000
Nominate your school for STEM grants
Since 2011, America's Farmers Grow Rural Education has awarded more than $9 million to support math and science education in rural school districts across the country. The program works with farmers to nominate public school districts to compete for math and science grants of $10,000 or $25,000. Grant applications are reviewed and finalists selected by a panel of teachers.
Winning applications are selected by an advisory council comprised of farmers from across the United States. Visit www.GrowRuralEducation.com to see the full list of 2015 winners and learn more about the grant program.