Grants strengthen STEM learning programs - Hawaii Tribune Herald

Grants strengthen STEM learning programs Published May 5, 2017 - 12:05am

By KIRSTEN JOHNSON Hawaii Tribune-Herald Dozens of Big Island programs, schools and nonprofits are getting a funding boost to help educate youth in science, technology, engineering and math.

On Tuesday, the Hawaii Community Foundation announced it was awarding more than $1 million in grants to 35 island-based programs through its Hawaii STEM Learning Partnership.

The partnership was launched in 2015 and has since distributed more than $2.2 million islandwide. It’s funded by nine donors and aims to support programs that prepare students for Hawaii’s “21st century workforce,” according to a Tuesday news release.

It wants to increase the number of STEM teachers and programs on the island and bolster the number of students who study STEM after high school, the news release said.

The foundation declined to say how much each grantee received but recipients included multiple schools and robotics programs around the island.

Among this year’s recipients is the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s Manu ‘Imiloa outreach program. Margaret Shiba, the center’s director of institutional advancement, said on Tuesday that past grant funding was used to bolster its seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum called “The Geometry of Wayfinding.”

The center received $50,000 in grant funding last year, Shiba said, which was used to recruit 15 teachers from around the island to help implement the curriculum. ”We’re very grateful to the Hawaii Community Foundation for partnering on this,” Shiba said. “(The grant’s purpose) is right up our alley in terms of STEM education being what ‘Imiloa is all about.”

Keaau Elementary School’s Robotics Inspire team also was among this year’s recipients.

The team received about $11,000 this year which coach Merry Bletcha said will be used to pay for competition registration fees, new technology and to purchase new robot parts.

The team received $7,000 last year and $5,000 the year prior, Bletcha said.

Keaau robotics students have attended numerous competitions, including the VEX IQ World Challenge in Kentucky multiple times.

Keaau Middle School students attended the competition this year, earning the Create Award and placing third in the Division Teamwork Challenge. “(The grants) have allowed us to expand and have allowed the kids to be more creative in what they build,” Bletcha said Tuesday.

“We’re very grateful to them.”

Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.