Kimball Area and Royalton high school in central Minnesota will share portions of a $500,000 grant to invest in programs that promote achievement in science, technology, engineering and math studies, the St. Cloud Times reports.
According to the report, the schools were awarded the grants from the not-for-profit Project Lead the Way, a provider of STEM education programs for K-12 schools. The schools will have three years to develop new programs designed to boost STEM achievement, which may include offering courses for college credits, the news provider noted.
"STEM has been such a buzzword in state initiatives recently but most of the other programs are too spendy,” Kimball principal Erik Widvey said. “We want to give our students a program that makes them marketable after they graduate, whether they are going into a career, two-year school or four-year school.
Many schools invest in new technology to help schools promote STEM achievement. For example, a STEM-area teacher may use a computer, an Apple iPad or an HDMI projector to increase student involvement in lectures and foster an interest to learn.
In total, Project Lead the Way awarded more than $1.9 million in grants to 72 schools in four states, including Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
