Murphy – A lot of new learning opportunities for students in teacher Cicely Cable’s after-school program at Murphy Elementary School, and for all the primary-age students in Cherokee County, opened on April 24.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, in conjunction with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, has invested about $1.1 million to make STEM (Science, Math, Engineering & Mathematics) Centers available to 27 organizations throughout the federal utility’s footprint. TVA receives no taxpayer funding.
The Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation started the program in Baltimore, and the centers were awarded to mainly Boys & Girls clubs across the United States. However, TVA was chose as a partner because many communities in the agency’s seven-state footprint, especially in the rural communities, don’t have Boys & Girls Clubs, so it made sense for TVA to handle the administrative duties of awarding STEM Centers across the region.
“This is one of our first installations of the Cal Ripken STEM project with TVA,” said Taquiya Thompson with TVA. “We are so thrilled that the kids will get further education in STEM.”
The centers include computers, robotics and even a 3D printer. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, children were already digging into all that was available.
“We are so excited about this program. This program is going to give these kids a step up on technology when they get into higher grades,” Thompson said.
“At TVA, we’re focusing on assisting our community with jobs in STEM so, of course, we need people that have those skills and that knowledge. So it makes sense to start at the heart of education, which is elementary school, and build up from there.”
Thompson spearheaded the implementation of the STEM center at Murphy Elementary, with a lot of help from her TVA counterparts. That included Tom Satkowiak, senior communications consultant; Bert Robinson, east region executive; and LaKevia Perry, government relations specialist for east region.
Murphy was one of only 27 organizations awarded the STEM centers in TVA’s seven-state region, and the only one rewarded in North Carolina. The center will include six Chromebooks, a Tech Tub to safely store computers, a 3D printer, educational STEM products, a custom-designed curriculum tied to Next Generation Science Standards, a mobile workbench, seven elemental clover tables and 28 stackable chairs. Students will also have an opportunity to participate in the annual STEM Challenge, a national competition hosted by the Ripken Foundation.
Cable said she not only uses it in the after-school program, but during the school day. The different pods of the STEM Center will be able to be checked out to other schools in Cherokee County to use for their lessons.
The 3D printer that was included in the project is connected to the internet so another school can design a project and transmit it there. That will allow for greater flexibility of use for other schools in the county.
A young man at the ceremony had two motorized wheels with writing pins attached to them, and when you turned them on it made designs. It reminded observers of something called Spirograph, which to see today you have to visit a museum.