Ingalls Shipbuilding has awarded more than $101,000 in grants to 18 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects and initiatives from schools and educational organizations in Mississippi.
This is the 10th year for Ingalls’ STEM program and during that time, the company has awarded more than $911,000 for STEM-related projects.
“I want to thank the educators in this room for making such a substantial contribution to our workforce,” Edmond Hughes, Ingalls’ vice president of human resources and administration, said at a morning ceremony held at the shipyard. “Each year I’m excited to present these grants for such fascinating science, technology, engineering and math projects that will engage hundreds of students in our communities. Ingalls remains committed to helping ensure that our local schools have the resources needed to produce students who are ready to join our ever-growing workforce.”
The 2018 STEM grant recipients and projects are:
- Agricola Elementary: Fourth-graders will collaborate to explore, design, build and program a robot to perform certain missions based on a real-world problem. $4,000
- Anniston Avenue Elementary: Second- and third-grade students will be introduced to robotics and programming using Lego WeDo 2.0 classroom sets. $5,000
- FABLAB Jackson County: Students will participate in a camp where they will learn about basic electronics and computer programming skills by building and programming a robot that will traverse a maze autonomously. $4,719
- Gautier Middle School: Students will create a family STEM night for the middle schools in the district. Students will facilitate at a variety of centers in which parents and students can build and become excited about technology. $4,035
- Gulfport High School: Students will use anatomy and physiology, health sciences and math classes to build collaborative, co-teaching lessons that show the relationship between the medical field, math and science using zSpace technology, a virtual reality platform. $5,000
- Jubilee BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology): This is a volunteer-based program for middle and high schools that teaches skill sets for STEM careers. Students are provided raw materials and must design and manufacture a functioning robot as well as write an engineering notebook. $2,972
- Lizana Elementary School: Funds will be used to purchase materials and printables to create STEM bins and challenges for first-graders. Using a digital camera, students will take pictures of their structures throughout the project process and upload them onto a Chromebook. They will use Chromebooks as a digital tool to publish and share their projects. $5,000
- North Woolmarket Elementary and Middle School: Students will receive a six-month subscription to Kiwi Company. Kiwi Crate will provide a new STEM project for the students each month. $2,190
- Ocean Springs Gifted Education: Funds will be used to build a KEVA Corner. In KEVA Corner, students will create original works of art and design and build architectural structures. $4,347
- Ocean Springs Upper Elementary School: Funds will be used to purchase a variety of materials that students will use to experience the thrill of engineering and problem-solving as they are challenged to create a particular structure. $2,526
- Pascagoula High School: Students will become inspired to learn through exploration in an enzyme activity using cellobiase, a key enzyme associated with biofuel production. $5,000
- Pascagoula High School: Students will utilize digital microscopes to view specimens in greater detail than the standard compound light microscope. Students can view a live image, capture a still image for comparison or create short video clips of microscopic organisms. $4,819
- Pass Christian Elementary: This robotics project will incorporate the Dash and Dot curriculum in second grade, the Lego WeDo 2.0 curriculum in third grade and the Lego Ev3 Mindstorms in grades four and five. $5,000
- Singing River Academy: This project uses virtual reality technology to foster social integration of learners within a classroom environment by bringing together students who have different learning styles and needs. $5,000
- St. Martin High School: Students will explore STEM-related career fields through research and the use of K’Nex bridges and simple machines as well as how robots are essential in the construction of everyday products. $2,075
- St. Mary Catholic School: The development of the STEAM Plant’s Outdoor Classroom will provide students with an innovative learning environment that becomes an educational model that transcends the traditional classroom, while enhancing the quality of the school environment. $3,045
- St. Patrick Catholic High School: A traditional classroom will be transformed into a STEM lab equipped with various tools such as software, virtual resources and interactive activities to prepare and excite students about STEM. Students will be involved in every aspect of the design and layout of the lab. $5,000
- Woolmarket Elementary: A station-based learning platform will allow students with communication deficits to interact with general education students while completing specific STEM activities under the direction and supervision of the school’s speech-language pathologist. $1,527
