Duke Energy Foundation

The Duke Energy Foundation is awarding more than $300,000 in grants to 24 innovative K-12 education programs serving communities across Indiana. Duke Energy is continuing its investment in Greater Cincinnati students, educators and communities by awarding $150,000 in grants to 12 education programs.

“Our educators and students are facing tremendous challenges teaching and learning as we emerge from the pandemic,” said Stan Pinegar, president of Duke Energy Indiana. “It’s more important now than ever before that we support and invest in opportunities for our children in the communities we serve to thrive and reach their full potential.”

The grants support a wide range of educational programming for K-12 students, including summer reading programs; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education; programs that support underrepresented, low-income or diverse populations; and efforts to reverse academic declines due to disruption caused by COVID-19.

Among the grant recipients is the Maker Youth Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Fishers, Ind., that reaches youth with STEM education.

“Through fun, hands-on activities, we try to inspire kids to adopt a ‘maker mindset,’ or the belief they can learn to do anything,” said Kim Brand, founder of Maker Youth Foundation. “It’s our mission to help them develop timeless skills like curiosity, collaboration and problem-solving that will set them on a path to success. We’re grateful for Duke Energy’s investment, which will enable us to expand our programming and reach more students than ever before.”

Over the past three years, the Duke Energy Foundation has awarded 76 strategic charitable grants totaling more than $1.1 million to nonprofit organizations working to bolster education in Indiana communities.

This year, grants were awarded to the following organizations:

• Avon Education Foundation (Hendricks County) – $10,000. Funds will support the purchase of build-it-yourself, program-it-yourself smart speakers that teach kids how to code, while also learning about artificial intelligence.

• Brownsburg Education Foundation (Hendricks County) – $10,000. Funds will be used to purchase classroom supplies and materials for students enrolled in Brownsburg High School’s Project Lead the Way classes, which provide hands-on learning opportunities in engineering, computer science and biomedical science.

• Camp Navigate (Vigo County) – $5,000. Camp Navigate is an after-school care and summer camp program for children pre-K through eighth grade. The organization focuses on developing employability/soft skills, promoting healthy lifestyles and creating servant leaders. Funds will be used to support Camp Navigate’s Character Store. When students display leadership, teamwork and other positive traits, they will be rewarded with Camp Navigate “dollars,” which will allow them to purchase objects or privileges from the store.

• Carmel Education Foundation (Hamilton County) – $10,000. Funds will be used to purchase robotics kits for each of Carmel Clay’s three middle schools. Funds will also support Project Lead the Way curriculum focused on energy collisions and conversion, which will be utilized in fourth grade classrooms at each of Carmel Clay’s elementary schools.

• Clark-Pleasant Education Foundation (Johnson County) – $7,600. Funds will be used to purchase equipment for Whiteland Community High School’s engineering classes, including a desktop wind tunnel and 3D printers that enable students to learn hands-on engineering skills.

• Foundation of Monroe County Community Schools (Monroe County) – $15,700. Funds will be used to support specialized training for elementary and middle school teachers to address math learning gaps due to disruption caused by COVID-19, while keeping students advancing on grade level.

• Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana (Huntington County) – $5,000. Funds will be used to support the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE), which aims to nurture and champion girls’ ambitions by providing the environment, knowledge and skills they need to fulfill their potential. Through GSLE, girls build skills in STEM and entrepreneurship.

• Girls Inc. of Shelbyville & Shelby County (Shelby County) – $10,000. Funds will be used to provide scholarships for girls from underserved communities to attend Girls Inc. of Shelbyville and Shelby County’s summer literacy program.

• Hanover College (Jefferson County) – $15,000. Funds will be used to support Hanover College’s Summer STEM Enrichment Program, which aims to increase the number of underserved high school students who attend college and introduce them to fields and careers in STEM. Students enrolled in the program will attend a weeklong residential academy on campus. Duke Energy funds will also be used to offer professional development and materials to area high school STEM teachers.

• Indiana State University (Statewide) – $40,000. Funds will be used to support Indiana State University’s Power of Reading and Power of Math summits, which provide teachers with the opportunity to hear from nationally renowned speakers who offer new techniques and research to help improve instruction and  outcomes for K-12 students.

• Ivy Tech Foundation (Vigo County) – $10,000. Funds will be used to support Cob and Cog, an annual competition held at Ivy Tech Community College’s Terre Haute campus in which area high school students compete in STEM-related challenges that require problem-solving, teamwork, effective communication and ingenuity. Through Cob and Cog, students are exposed to a fun and energetic environment that sparks interest in career opportunities in STEM fields.

• Kokomo School Corporation (Howard County) – $20,000. Funds will support Kokomo School Corporation’s Summer READ UP with STEM! Discovery Program for students entering grades K-3. This four-week program is intended to bridge the summer reading gap for students and set a foundation for future interest in STEM disciplines.

• Maker13 (Clark County) – $10,000. Funds will be used to expand the nonprofit’s experiential learning programming in underserved communities and connect area youth with employers in STEM-related industries.

• Maker Youth Foundation (Hamilton County) – $27,230. Funds will support the Maker Youth Foundation’s “Saturn Program: A Renewable Energy Mobile Field Experience and Design Challenge.” Through this unique program, Hamilton County high school students will compete in a multiday design challenge and learn about renewable energy technologies.

• Milan Community Schools (Ripley County) – $10,270. Funds will enable Milan Community Schools to offer a summer learning camp for at-risk students filled with STEM, literacy, and social and emotional learning.

• Minority Engineering Program of Indianapolis (Marion County) – $10,000. Funds will be used to purchase supplies and materials for minority students pursuing engineering and information technology education.

• Mitchell Community Schools (Lawrence County) – $14,274. Funds will be used to purchase state-of-the-art supplies for digital fabrication and STEM programming at Shoals Middle School, Burris Elementary School and Orleans Elementary School. Supplies include a sublimination printer and heat press; a laser engraving and cutting machine; and microelectronics kits.

• Metropolitan School District of Martinsville (Morgan County) – $13,715. Funds will support a remedial reading program for students in need of extra support. Participating first, second and third grade students will meet for three hours per week after school at Brooklyn STEM Academy and South Elementary School of Communications.

• New Castle Community School Corporation (Henry County) – $9,419. Funds will support Wilbur Wright Elementary’s remedial reading program for first and second grade students. This immersive program will focus on comprehension, fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics and vocabulary.

• Purdue University (Tippecanoe County) – $20,000. Funds will support Purdue University’s “Trailblazers” program, which provides specialized mentoring and faculty training for historically underrepresented populations. Funds will also support the university’s “Minorities in Engineering” program, which promotes diversity in engineering.

• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Vigo County) – $12,960. Funds will support a summer professional development opportunity for sixth through 12th grade Indiana STEM teachers. The program emphasizes the integration of computer-mediated learning, adaptive pedagogy and advanced digital resources to augment online learning.

• TechPoint Foundation for Youth (Hendricks County) – $10,000. Funds will support the State Robotics Initiative (SRI), which aims to engage traditionally underrepresented youth in STEM to build the next generation of leaders in the field. Each year, SRI provides 20,000 Indiana students with hands-on, experiential robotics training to develop their awareness, interest and growth in STEM skills and careers. Students learn hard skills for designing, prototyping and troubleshooting robots while building soft skills like communication, collaboration and creativity.

• Vincennes Community School Corporation (Knox County) – $10,000. Funds will enable the Vincennes Community School Corporation to offer Project Lead the Way programming. Pre-K through fifth grade students will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities in computer science, engineering and biomedical science.

• Washington Carnegie Public Library (Daviess County) – $10,000. Funds will support “STEMspiration: Change the Equation,” an out-of-school STEM program that aims to prepare students to step in and fill future STEM jobs in the community.

Duke Energy Indiana

Duke Energy Indiana, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, provides about 6,300 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 860,000 customers in a 23,000-square-mile service area, making it Indiana’s largest electric supplier.

Duke Energy Foundation

The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation contributes more than $2 million annually in charitable gifts to Indiana and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars. More information about the Foundation and its Powerful Communities program can be found at duke-energy.com/foundation.

 

https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-awards-more-than-300-000-in-grants-to-innovative-k-12-education-initiatives-across-indiana

 

 

https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-foundation-awards-150-000-to-support-stem-environmental-education-initiatives-across-greater-cincinnati

Duke Energy is continuing its investment in Greater Cincinnati students, educators and communities by awarding $150,000 in grants to 12 education programs.

The grants support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and environmental education programs to equip students with the skills needed for successful careers in the energy sector. The programs aim to reduce the learning gap as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and close the achievement divide that often separates low-income students from their peers.

“In addition to funding important initiatives that allow students to explore a variety of STEM fields, we’re also supporting exciting programs that provide the resources and tools underserved children need to blossom into tomorrow’s leaders,”  said Amy Spiller, president, Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky. “We’re focused on building powerful communities where nature and wildlife thrive, students can excel and a talented workforce drives economic prosperity for all. ”

The education grants are administered through the Duke Energy Foundation, which provided $2 million in support of Greater Cincinnati initiatives in 2021.

“COVID has presented many challenges to students and teachers as we recover from periods of missed in-classroom instruction,” said Madhura Kulkarni, director, Center for Integrative Natural Science and Mathematics at Northern Kentucky University. “Thanks to this generous grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, we’re able to help more teachers adapt their STEM instruction to meet the needs of every student, especially those who lost opportunities to engage in hands-on, inquiry-based STEM learning over the last two years.”

The following 12 programs received funding from the Duke Energy Foundation:

• Adventure Crew
  $10,000 for new Crew Pathway program, providing environmental, educational and leadership training for city teens to deepen their understanding of and passion for the outdoors.
• B the Keeper
  $15,000 to support high school students in developing an appreciation for native pollinators through hands-on habitat restoration projects via the Powerful Pollinators program.
• Boone County Schools
  $10,000 for Student Energy Teams and STEM clubs to inspire interest among today’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math and help prepare today’s youth for tomorrow’s workforce.
• imago
  $5,000 to enhance school learning, in particular in STEM topics, by creating and supporting outdoor learning spaces in public urban schools in the Price Hill neighborhood.
• iSPACE Inc.
  $10,000 to provide out-of-school hands-on STEM learning opportunities to students from low-income areas.
• Miami University
  $15,000 to provide Cincinnati Public School students with a week of engaging STEM learning through hands-on robot building and computer programming at eight Cincinnati Recreation Commission centers during Summer STEM Camp.
• Northern Kentucky Education Council Inc.
  $15,000 to reduce the learning gap from the COVID-19 pandemic and help struggling young students with the support they need to be successful in reading and math via the One to One program.
• Northern Kentucky University Foundation
  $20,000 for teachers to participate in high-quality, classroom-embedded professional development in STEM subjects with a focus on helping teachers adapt their STEM instruction to meet the needs of all students no matter their level of background knowledge due to missed instruction as a result of the pandemic.
• The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
  $10,000 for Discover Summer program to help prevent summer learning loss for children and teens in high-poverty environments, who also often struggle with basic needs like access to healthy food and safe spaces when out of a formal school environment during the summer.
• University of Cincinnati Foundation
  $15,000 to support Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative’s STEM Bicycle and 3D Printers clubs, which engage students to build their engineering and design skills, confidence and interest in exploring STEM careers.
• UpSpring
  $10,000 to support Summer 360° day camps, which provide structure for continued learning and academic skill set retention during the critical summer months for children experiencing homelessness in Greater Cincinnati.
• YMCA
  $15,000 to support 2022 summer camp Thingamajig Invention Convention, inspiring youth to explore the fields of science, engineering and design while tapping their creative potential and inventive spirit.

Later this year, Duke Energy will announce the Greater Cincinnati recipients of its workforce, Urban Revitalization and nature grants.

Duke Energy Foundation

The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation contributes more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars. More information about the Foundation and its Powerful Communities program can be found at duke-energy.com/foundation.

Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky

Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, provides electric service to about 860,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in a 3,000-square-mile service area, and natural gas service to approximately 538,000 customers in a 2,650-square-mile service area.\

https://www.techedmagazine.com/category/news/energy/