LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Hands-on science projects and classroom activities can foster students' curiosity and instill a love of learning, but they can also be expensive.
That's where the Arkansas Community Foundation's Science Initiative for Mmiddle Schools program steps in.
Laura Mewbern and Wendy Gibson are both excited to talk about the SIMS grants their classrooms received with Alyse on "THV 11 News This Morning."
SIMS stands for Science Initiative for Middle Schools. Through this program, Arkansas Community Foundation provides teachers with up to $500 in classroom materials to facilitate hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) instruction.
Arkansas Community Foundation and its 27 local offices across the state provide the grants.
Public middle school (grades 5-8) teachers in the counties served by Arkansas Community Foundation's local offices are eligible to apply. (39 total counties. Visit www.arcf.org for a complete listing.)
Throughout the state this year, 285 grants were awarded.
Arkansas Community Foundation accepts applications each fall. Visit www.arcf.org to learn more. We partner with DonorsChoose.org for our application process. Teachers go to the DonorsChoose.org website, submit their application, request the classroom supplies they need, and if their application is approved, they receive their supplies in the mail a few weeks later. The benefit of partnering with DonorsChoose is that it's a public forum. That means anyone can view and make a donation to support teachers' proposals. In some cases, members of the public fund teachers' SIMS proposals before we even get a chance to!
Wendy Gibson from Horace Mann Arts and Science Magnet Middle school requested funding for several TI-84 graphing calculators to enable her 6th grade students to learn the technology they will use in math and science classes throughout high school and college.