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Tupelo, Miss. – Local residents are set to benefit from a new partnership bringing a STEM center to Murphy.
The Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation announced on Nov. 8 a $1.1 million partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power supplier. The project, announced on National STEM Day, will include installation of 27 fully equipped science, technology, engineering and math – STEM – centers in seven states, according to a release.
The announcement was made as CRSF and TVA celebrated the opening of their first STEM Center at the Tupelo City-Haven Boys & Girls Club.
“We’re excited to partner with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation to help provide opportunities for children across our region,” said Jeannette Mills, executive vice president of TVA. “Our commitment to STEM has always been at the heart of TVA’s mission, and this new initiative gives us the chance to make an even more tangible impact and investment on the future of the STEM workforce.”
Hall of Famer and CRSF co-founder Cal Ripken Jr. attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We can do a lot of good things on our own, but with dedicated partners we can achieve great things. Our partnership with Tennessee Valley Authority is evidence of that. In 2016, we started to learn more about the need for young people to have access to STEM education, so we decided to make that part of our work,” Ripken said.
“The fact that today we are opening our 400th STEM Center just blows me away, and with partners across the country and the need remaining critical, we aren’t slowing down.”
All 27 TVA STEM Centers, which will be open by the end of 2023, will provide youth with opportunities to engage with state-of-the-art STEM tools such as snap circuits, bee-bots and ozobots, each designed to push students to improve their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
“These resources will allow us to provide students with enhanced and unique hands-on learning activities,” said Zell Long, president and CEO of the Tupelo City-Haven Boys & Girls Club of North Mississippi. “We feel fortunate to be able to partner with these two wonderful organizations to bring these supplemental instructional resources to our community.”
The list of 27 new TVA STEM centers incudes one in Cherokee County through the Murphy 21st Century Community Learning Center. It’s the only one of its kind planned in North Carolina so far.