Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has awarded $70,500 in grants to 19 school districts and organizations in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The grants will be used by the districts for various science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects.
"These STEM grants provide school districts with resources that math and science teachers can use to get students excited about solving hard problems," said Irwin F. Edenzon, president, Ingalls Shipbuilding. "Keeping up with and exploiting technology advancements, especially in shipbuilding, continues to be a critical part of how we meet our customer's needs. It will be even more important in the future. The next generation of shipbuilders will need the technical and engineering skills that help us build affordable, great ships. Ingalls Shipbuilding is proud to support programs that get and keep students engaged in STEM studies."
The school districts and organizations were presented checks today at Ingalls Shipbuilding, and representatives from the various schools also were given a shipyard tour.
"We greatly appreciate the continued support of Ingalls Shipbuilding and its generous support of the Pascagoula School District," said Wayne Rodolfich, superintendent, Pascagoula School District. "Because of this grant, students will be exposed to science, math and technology through our WeatherBug program, which goes hand-in-hand with the STEM precepts of developing a future workforce and encouraging students to excel."
The 2012 STEM grants include:
Mississippi
-- D'Iberville High School - $5,000 to purchase software and other
STEM-related materials to help give students a basic understanding of
STEM subjects and how they relate to career choices.
-- East Central High School - $2,500 to help students conduct a working
prototype of a solar dry heat sterilizer that can be deployed with a
local medical or dental missionary group to aid with sanitary conditions
in under-developed countries.
-- East Central Middle School - $1,000 to allow students to participate in
a BEST Robotics (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology)
competition.
-- Gulfport School District - $4,500 to implement RACE for Success
(Robotics and Community Education) in grades 5-12. The program is a
collaboration of electricity, robotics and the problem-solving process.
-- Jackson County Chamber of Commerce - $5,000 to be used for scholarships
presented during the annual Explosion of Excellence.
-- Moss Point Schools - $5,000 for ninth-grade students to engage in more
hands-on activities in STEM disciplines. Students will also be
encouraged to attend various job-shadowing events. (An additional $1,000
for a robotics competition was previously awarded.)
-- Pascagoula Schools - $5,000 to go toward the installation of a
WeatherBug station in the Family Interactive Center. The station will be
monitored by science and math students and will provide real-time data,
which can be used to alert the community of impending inclement weather
conditions.
-- Resurrection Catholic School - $2,500 to help seventh-grade students
explore design, using an interactive 2D CAD program to create bridges
and other structures.
-- St. Martin High School - $2,500 to be used as part of the Plant Now,
Harvest Later program. Students will landscape undeveloped land,
incorporating all the elements of science, engineering, technology and
math.
-- St. Patrick Catholic High School - $2,000 to allow students to
participate in a FIRST Robotics Competition.
Alabama
-- Alabama School of Math and Science - $2,500 to be used to support
students in FIRST Robotics Competitions.
-- Daphne High School - $2,500 to be used to purchase CAD software that
will be used by students in pre-engineering and pre-architectural
programs.
-- Jubilee BEST Robotics - $5,000 to be used for sponsorship of BEST Game
Day 2012
-- Mobile Area Education Foundation - $2,500 to be used to support students
attending engineering camps.
-- Mobile County Public Schools - $2,500 to be used to purchase supplies
needed to implement engineering design challenges in all seventh-grade
science and math classes.
-- St. Vincent DePaul Catholic School - $1,000 to allow students to
participate in a BEST Robotics (Boosting Engineering, Science and
Technology) competition.
-- Theodore High School - $2,500 to help students build a robot for Robots
for Design in the Mobile Schools. Students will then write an essay on
its function and purpose.
Louisiana
-- Greater New Orleans schools - $15,000 to provide two weeks of hands-on
science training for greater New Orleans high school teachers.
-- North Shore High School - $1,000 previously awarded for a FIRST Robotics
Competition.