Pictured, left to right: Iliya Mikhaylishin and Riley Cramer, 10th graders at Harrison Bay Future Ready Center, prepare to launch a rocket
Harrison Bay Future Ready Center’s Mission to Mars project was awarded a grant of $2,500 by the Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated for a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education project.
“For a school just underway in its first year, this grant money is greatly appreciated as is the support of TVA for our Harrison Bay Future Ready Center and Hamilton County Schools,” said, Gary Kuehn, principal, Harrison Bay Future Ready Center.
“The grant funding will allow us to provide students a variety of classroom learning experiences directly related to Mission to Mars, a project of our Future Ready institute. We’ll use the grant to build pneumatic and ballistic rockets, code rovers, study non-traditional food production, design multipurpose furniture, build models and construct a life-size bio-dome. Students will also catalog their learning experience by keeping a journal throughout the Mission to Mars process.”
The grant award is a part of $600,000 in competitive STEM grants awarded to 142 schools across TVA’s service territory. The competitive grant program provided teachers an opportunity to apply for funding up to $5,000, and preference was given to grant applications that explored TVA’s primary areas of focus: environment, energy, economic and career development, and community problem-solving. Schools that receive grant funding must receive their power from a TVA distributor.
“This is the second year we offered this program to the entire Valley, and we saw a major increase in grant applications this year,” said Community Engagement Senior Program Manager Rachel Crickmar. “There is a demand in the Valley for workforce development through STEM education, and I am proud of the way TVA and our retirees are responding to that demand by supporting teachers in the classroom.”
For additional information about the TVA STEM grants and see a full list of recipients, visit
https://www.tva.gov/Newsroom/Press-Releases/TVA-Partnership-Awards-600000-in-STEM-Grants.