Wayne County Public Schools awarded $10,000 grant
By From staff reports
Published in News on September 27, 2015 1:50 AM
Wayne County Public Schools has received a $10,000 grant from America's Farmers Grow Rural Education, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund.
The district will use the money to purchase LEGO education kits, which will be used in all grades at Tommy's Road Elementary School, officials said. The kits will allow the school to implement projects ranging from teaching kindergarten students numbers and geometric figures with the LEGO bricks to using LEGO MoreToMath and WeDo kits to teach math, science, engineering and robotics in the upper grades.
"By incorporating LEGOS, robotics and a collaborative learning style into the Tommy's Road Elementary curriculum, students will receive engaging, hands-on learning opportunities that will foster positive attitudes toward math and science," said Laura Alley, instructional assistant. "This positivity and experience with math and science will lay the foundation for more students to consider exploring STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers."
Farmers who nominated the school district and representatives from the school and the Monsanto Fund attended a check presentation to celebrate the grant during school assembly on Sept. 14.
This year the school district also received an educational starter kit from Monsanto Co. to help establish a pollinator garden, which will give students firsthand knowledge of the critical role habitat plays in providing bees and butterflies with food, shelter and places to lay eggs.
Since 2011, Grow Rural Education has awarded more than $9 million to help keep rural public school districts growing. The program works with farmers to nominate public school districts to compete for math and science grants of $10,000 or $25,000.