CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (May 30, 2023) ― The Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with EPB and Bicentennial Volunteers, Inc. (a TVA retiree organization), awarded $60,000 in STEM grants to 15 schools in EPB’s service area. These schools are among the 238 schools across TVA’s service area to receive $1 million in grants to develop science, technology, engineering, and math education projects to help spark student interest in future careers in STEM-related fields. The program will support 136,000 students with hands-on STEM activities.
Grants of up to $5,000 were awarded in a competitive process, with preferences given to applications that explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic development, and community problem-solving. Any school that receives power from a local power company served by TVA was eligible to apply.
Normal Park Middle Museum Magnet used funding in partnership with green|spaces to supply their “Sustainable City” project which allows students to use their knowledge of geometry, renewable energy, and biodiversity to create a model building using sustainable practices.
“We would not have been able to take this project to such a great depth without this funding from TVA,” said Matty Hardy, 6th grade science teacher at Normal Park Middle Museum Magnet. “Hands-on opportunities like these allow students to explore STEAM topics and develop skills with real-world applications from an early age, inspiring them to be innovative leaders of the future.”
Schools in EPB’s service area selected for the program include:
“TVA is committed to supporting STEM education to help develop today’s students into tomorrow’s engineers, scientists and IT professionals,” said Jeannette Mills, TVA executive vice president and chief external relations officer. “It’s inspiring to be able to contribute to the innovators of the next generation.”
Since 2018, TVA and BVI have awarded nearly $5 million in STEM grants to support local education.
“EPB believes hands-on, interactive STEM projects allow our future leaders to explore future career possibilities and expand their knowledge to prepare them to enter the workforce,” said Elizabeth Hammitt, EPB director of residential energy and environmental solutions. “The schools in EPB’s service area that received TVA STEM grant will be able to further develop and support these opportunities for their students.”
The competitive STEM classroom grant program is operated in partnership with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network managed by the Battelle organization. A full list of grant recipients, and information on how to apply for a future STEM grant can be found at tva.com/stem.
About EPB
EPB delivers advanced smart city infrastructure and world-class energy and connectivity solutions, including the most resilient smart grid power distribution system in the United States and the fastest community-wide internet in the world. EPB gained national notice when it deployed America’s first community-wide Gig-speed internet in 2010, later expanding the ubiquitously available service to 10 Gig in 2015 and 25 Gig in 2022. Ever committed to keeping Chattanooga on the cutting edge, in 2022, EPB established EPB Quantum NetworkSM powered by Qubitekk, America’s first industry-led, commercially available quantum network designed for private companies as well as government and university researchers to run quantum equipment and applications in an established fiber optic environment.
EPB utilizes its fiber optic network as the communications backbone for more than 200,000 smart switches, sensors and other devices. As a result, the Chattanooga area’s power distribution system is the most advanced and highly automated smart grid in the nation. This led the U.S. Department of Energy to name EPB a living laboratory for pioneering smart grid technologies. Since then, EPB has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and more than 20 other national research partners to play a critical role in more than $155 million in smart city research, earning such recognitions as the R&D 100 Award for its work to apply quantum technologies to securing America’s electric grid. EPB was also the first major power distribution utility to earn the GBCI’s PEER certification for having a highly automated, modernized electric power grid in 2015 and followed up in 2021 by re-certifying at PEER Gold.
EPB is an independent board of the City of Chattanooga which began serving customers in 1939 and today reaches a 600-square-mile service territory that includes the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the surrounding area. Visit epb.com for more information.
About TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies serving nearly 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. In addition to operating and investing its revenues in its electric system, TVA provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system, and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation.
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