The Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF) recently awarded $31,896 in support of STEAM education in Lawrence Township public schools thanks to a grant from Bristol Myers Squibb. During her presentation to the BOE, LTEF Executive Director Karen Faiman stated, “Human progress depends greatly on innovation. It depends on people coming up with innovative ideas to improve life. Consequently, societies must make sure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to become scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs. To ensure this, it is essential that we offer students the best STEAM educational framework that we are able. Thanks to BMS, the LTEF is able to do just that with this grant and greatly enhance STEAM education at all grade levels in Lawrence Township public schools.”

This grant has three distinct parts including LEGO® Kits, Harkness dry-erase Tables and a STEAM Speaker. First, this funding will provide Computer Science LEGO® Education STEAM Kits for Pre-K through 6th grade classrooms. The sets allow children to experiment, test ideas, and answer questions and align well with the elementary Computer Science standards. The second part of this grant provides modified Harkness-style dry-erase tables for high school math classrooms to facilitate student discourse, collaboration, and visible thinking.

The final enhancement to STEM educational program in Lawrence Township provided by this grant is an engaging and transformative speaker, Kantis Simmons (https://www.kantissimmons.com/) to Lawrence Middle School and Lawrence High School. In 2021, there were nearly 10 million workers in STEM occupations and this total is projected to grow by almost 11% by 2031, over two times faster than the total for all occupations (US Department of Labor, 2022). The goal of this part of the project is to spark excitement in learning STEM subjects and guide students to rewarding STEM careers. Simmons is a Leading Global STEM Expert, Motivational Speaker and School Success Strategist. Simmons will ignite the spark of curiosity and passion in LTPS students through key note addresses to the entire student population at LMS & LHS, and additional workshops.

Since 1992, the LTEF has funded over 1,100 programs in the Lawrence schools with grants in nearing $4.5 million. For a complete list of the grants, along with more information on LTEF and ways to support the Foundation, visit www.ltefnj.org or email info@ltefnj.org. Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF) raises funds from individuals, local businesses, corporations, and foundations for programs that foster excellence, creativity, and achievement in education for all students in Lawrence Township Public Schools. Through grant requests from teachers and school administrators, LTEF funds programs that will have a substantial and lasting impact on Lawrence Township public school students. As a result of these grants, our Lawrence Township public school students have had the opportunity to take part in innovative classroom projects, use new technology, and have access to state-of-the-art equipment.