STEAM: A HOT Grant Opportunity
by Sarah Tambucci, Ph.D
Director, AECWhat happens when you add the arts to STEM? You get STEAM.
“Long-standing research has demonstrated that a rich arts program contributes to academic achievement across other core subjects.” So begins the open invitation from The Grable Foundation and The Benedum Foundation for administrators and teachers to partner with community based organizations and institutions of higher education to advance the convergence of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with the arts to get STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics).
A national movement is afoot to advance the arts as part of the recognition that the arts teach creativity, problem solving, contextual thinking and other aptitudes deemed critical to the workforce demands of the 21st Century. And now, here in our region, we are being encouraged to explore the intersection of the arts with technology. These two foundations are inviting us to take good ideas to the next level.
A unique feature of this opportunity is the requirement that we work together. Research that explores the advantages of working in teams is at work here. How can teacher, school and community converge to do something together that perhaps could not be explored any other way? We are being asked to plan together, think together and work together to make things happen. We are being invited to forge local connections that will benefit our students. Are we up to the challenge?
Often, limited resources stifle good ideas. Do you have a good idea? Can you clearly see the intersection of the arts and technology?
Resources:
- Learn more about this opportunity
- Learn more about community organizations that make good partners here.
- Learn more about STEM at www.stemedcoalition.org
