Foundation’s STEM classroom grants available

THINK Fund at Hawaii Community Foundation has money available for STEM classroom grants through DonorsChoose.org for the 2016-17 school year.

The classroom grants support projects that boost Hawaii Island public and public charter school third- to 12th-grade students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning. The grants can be used for materials, supplies and on-island field trips, and can be up to but not more than $2,500.

“Many types of projects are part of the STEM learning pathway for our local students, so we support engineering projects such as robotics, engineering design and aerodynamic design,” said Lydia Clements, director of Neighbor Islands for the Hawaii Community Foundation. “We also encourage projects that expose students to STEM career opportunities like computer programming, environmental science and health care.”

Projects can be posted at any time at DonorsChoose.org and requests are reviewed weekly by the THINK Fund at HCF. If a project is selected for funding it usually takes less than three weeks for the students to receive materials in their classroom.

To apply, teachers write up their grant need on DonorsChoose.org, applications are reviewed, projects are selected and funded.

In its first 18 months, THINK Fund at HCF committed $150,000 and funded 82 classroom projects for more than 8,000 students on Hawaii Island. These students nurtured hydroponics gardens, studied water quality through new lab equipment and built their own Mars rover with the help of 3-D printers, Clements said.

The Hawaii Island New Knowledge Fund was created by the Thirty Meter Telescope to benefit Hawaii Island students pursuing STEM endeavors with an annual contribution of $1 million.

The Hawaii Community Foundation and Pauahi Foundation administer THINK Fund distributions in scholarship and grant-making platforms.