The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI) is awarding $31,500 in grants to support a variety of STEM programs and projects within Virgin Islands public schools and early childhood centers in the USVI, CFVI has announced.
For the third year in a row, these grants were made possible by a contribution from the AT&T Foundation.
Hundreds of students within the St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John districts will have the opportunity to explore the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics through hands-on, creative instruction, CFVI said. Teachers and professionals were required to submit proposals that aimed to improve student achievement. These grants range from $1,500-$5,000 and will be used to boost STEM education.
“STEM industries demand a highly-educated and skilled workforce and provides opportunities for under-represented populations such as women, minorities and students with disabilities to obtain the skills essential to their future success,” says Joe York, AT&T president of Florida, Puerto Rico & USVI. “These STEM grants provide the opportunity for increased knowledge in fields that are essential to the economic development of our country.”
CFVI President Dee Baecher-Brown, recognized the continued generosity, vision, and long-term support of AT&T as a model of commitment for businesses in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to CFVI. “We are so appreciative of AT&T’s ongoing philanthropic support of initiatives serving students in the USVI, particularly as many are facing the challenges of split-session school schedules. As we build forward from the September hurricanes, these grants will enable students to access STEM enrichment in and beyond the classroom,” she said.
Pre-schoolers at Head Start facilities throughout the Territory will be utilizing learning kits to engage in STEM-related concepts; physics students at the Charlotte Amalie High School will participate in team building exercises to construct robots; and students at the Claude O. Markoe Elementary School will be collecting data samples at local ponds to study their chemical composition. These are a few of the enriching projects that were selected as recipients for the 2017-2018 AT&T STEM Grants.
2017-2018 AT&T STEM Grant Recipients
| Grant Recipient | School | Island | Project |
| Ludovic Atemazem | Charlotte Amalie High School | St. Thomas | The Physics Behind the Robot: Sea Perch Navigation |
| Victor Barnes | St. Croix Central High School | St. Croix | M3 Challenge & IMMC Mathematics competition |
| Nancy Graham | John H. Woodson Junior High School | St. Croix
|
Creative Minds STEAM Club |
| Masikia Lewis | VI Department of Human Services Head Start Pre-School Program | VI | STEM in the Preschool Setting |
| Marissa Richards-Nurse | St. Croix Educational Complex High School | St. Croix | Flora, Fauna and Composition of St. Croix’s Ponds |
| Tysha St. Jules | Claude O. Markoe Elementary School | St. Croix | “Fertigation” Bucket Irrigation System |
