The $530,000 grant — from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to the Allegheny Intermediate Unit — aims to ensure that students who reside in low-income households have access to education that will prepare them for science and technology careers.
Grant money is being distributed to 11 districts through an initiative between the AIU, the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit, the Consortium for Public Education and Code.org, a nonprofit that works to expand access to computer science in K-12 schools.
Allegheny County districts receiving grant money include Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Elizabeth Forward, Highlands, South Allegheny and West Mifflin. Westmoreland districts include Derry Area, Greater Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland and Yough.
Each district serves communities in which 34 percent to 66 percent of students reside in low-income housing.
"As educators, we understand how important it is to expose students to computer science and the STEM fields," Allegheny Intermediate Unit Executive Director Robert Scherrer said. "However, in many of our under-resourced school districts, students don't have equitable access to these programs. This grant will help provide the necessary funding so that all students can be successful in these fields."
Districts receiving grant money will evaluate their curriculum and identify areas in their STEM — or science, technology, engineering and math — programs that can be strengthened. Programs could be enhanced to offer students real-world problem solving opportunities that teach the essential skills and knowledge required to succeed in a 21st century economy.
School officials will look at corporate immersion opportunities, receive community input and implement instruction activities that embody principals from the Computer Science Teachers Association, Pennsylvania Core math and the state's recently updated science, technology, engineering and environmental literacy (STEELS) standards.
Grant money will also provide scholarship opportunities for educators to learn about Code.org's free K-12 curriculum and how it can be used in the classroom.
Additionally, districts will receive up to $20,000 in funding that will be used for tuition, substitute reimbursement, teacher stipends and travel expenses associated with professional learning opportunities. Districts will also use a portion of their funding to host a community event to raise awareness about STEM and computer science opportunities.
At South Allegheny, Superintendent David McDonald said the district plans to enhance their current STEM programs, which include robotics, digital citizenship, a television production studio that includes digital graphics and their fabrication lab.
"I don't want to say we're rebranding the whole wheel from a STEM standpoint; what we're trying to do is enrich the current programs that we have and look at what we're doing and how we can do it better," Mr. McDonald said.
The district, from which 45 percent of high school graduates immediately enter the workforce or the military, is also looking to bolster its career readiness programs by partnering with local businesses and expanding current programs to help students identify their interests and possible career paths.
The goal, Mr. McDonald said, is to expose students to different opportunities.
"We don't want our kids to have tunnel vision while they're here," Mr. McDonald said. "We want their tunnel to be wide open. ... so when they enter [the workforce] they're exposed to as many opportunities as possible."
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