FirstEnergy Companies Award $36,000 In STEM Education Grants To 38 PA Teachers

FirstEnergy Corp companies Penn Power, West Penn Power, Penelec and Met-Ed awarded a total of $36,000 in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) grants to 38 teachers in their service territories.

The grants will be used for a variety of hands-on projects, workshops and teacher development programs.

"FirstEnergy has long supported educational activities in communities served by our Pennsylvania utilities, particularly those that encourage students to pursue careers in the critical fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics," said Dee Lowery, president of the FirstEnergy Foundation.  "We are pleased to provide assistance to so many STEM projects this year to support our students, schools and educators as they work to help build a strong workforce for the future."

The grants were awarded to--

>> Penn Power - Almost $6,000 to 6 Teachers

-- Stephanie Corrette-Bennet, Neshannock Memorial Elementary School, New Castle – Exploring renewable energy with lessons on solar, hydro, wind and geothermal.

-- Stephanie Fiala, Moon Area School District, Moon Township – Practicing coding to help develop problem-solving skills.

-- Cara Florie, Harry W. Lockley Early Learning Center, New Castle – Exploring engineering and design solutions using both reading and art skills.

-- Colleen Hinrichsen, Mars Area Centennial School, Mars – Creating artwork that is programmed to change as the phases of the moon change.

-- Victoria Littell, Allard Elementary School, Moon – Working in teams that include special education students to build robots.

-- Danielle Webster, Fairview Elementary, Midland – Programming robots, then teaching lower grades about these programming projects.

>> West Penn Power - $10,000 to 14 Teachers

-- Bonita Burgess, Cameron County School District, Emporium – Building electric motors and circuits to learn about electricity.

-- Charles M. Chamey, Johnsonburg Area High School, Johnsonburg – Vocational program students will learn how to climb utility poles as preparation for attending FirstEnergy's Power Systems Institute utility line worker training program.

-- Kristen Fulgenzio, Burgettstown Area Elementary Center, Burgettstown – Building and programming robots.

-- Kurt Jones, West Greene High School, Waynesburg – Learning about aquaponics, devising monitoring schemes and devices to calculate how much solar power is necessary to make the operation self-sustaining.

-- Sue Melton, Springdale Junior-Senior High School, Springdale – Learning to program lights in synch with music.

-- Lyla Mitchell, Adelphoi Education, Fairchance – Building one of three types of robots.

-- Greg Reger and Jackson Knoll, McGuffey High School, Claysville – AP physics students will work in pairs to design and construct buildings for a model town, while AP chemistry students will design battery cells that can produce power for the town.

-- Dawn Schwartz, Western Beaver Junior-Senior High School, Industry – Using Global Positioning Satellite devices to learn about area, perimeter and using coordinates to determine distance.

-- Emilie Shogan, Penn Trafford School District, Harrisson City – Learning about math and science in a before-school program.

-- Amber Urick, Sunrise Estates Elementary School, Irwin – Use building materials to learn lessons in a variety of disciplines.

-- Jodi Weismann, Trafford Elementary School, Trafford – Practicing concepts using various materials throughout the school year.

-- Lauren Windstein and Tara Kohowski, South Fayette Intermediate School, McDonald – Reviving the school's rooftop garden.

>> Penelec - Almost $10,000 to 11 Teachers

-- Justin Barr, Altoona Area Junior High School, Altoona – Deconstructing devices to learn about and build electrical circuits.

-- Mike Beiter, Erie High School, Erie – Learning manufacturing technology by using old waste materials to create saleable household items.

-- Meltem Albayrak DiLeo, Holy Trinity Catholic School, Altoona – Using teamwork to design and build wind turbines.

-- Bonnie Dilling, Northern Bedford Elementary School, Loysburg – Studying coding tasks using a visual code blocks instead of actual written code.

-- Kelly Grassmyer, Irving Elementary School, Altoona – Learning about electronic circuits that can produce light, run motors or activate sensors.

-- Cathy L. Jones, Indiana County Technology Center, Indiana – Learning about a variety of public health issues, including the spread and management of diseases.

-- Morgan Patton, Shanksville-Stony Creek School District, Freidens – Building and using robots to learn about velocity, acceleration, force and energy.

-- Joshua Probst, Windber Area School District, Windber – Building an aquaponics greenhouse to learn about light, wavelengths, water chemistry and plant biology.

-- Elizabeth Smith, Wasson Elementary, DuBois – Learning the basic needs of plants and animals by building ecosystems.

-- Beth Wardo, Philipsburg-Osceola Middle School, Philipsburg – Building circuits to study electricity and magnetism.

-- Valerie Whyman, Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania, Huntingdon County – Helping girls learn from scout leaders and teachers during their recess period during school.

>> Met-Ed - More Than $10,000 to 7 Teachers

-- Lorraine Coomber, Shallow Brook Intermediate School, Manchester – Using teamwork to solve math and technology problems.

-- Daniel Dellinger, Red Lion Area Junior High School, Red Lion – Growing trout from fertilized eggs to learn about the life cycle of brook trout, water chemistry, fish biology and watershed health.

-- Eric Musselman, Central York High School, York – Practicing electrical wiring in a typical residential setting, wiring outlets, light switches and receptacles.

-- Shannon O'Donnell, Muhlenberg Middle School, Reading – Practicing engineering skills through a variety of tasks with different types of material for building and inventing.

-- Ashley Pastor, Tulpehocken Area School District, Bernville – Investigating and identifying agricultural problems in various regions of the world, then creating vertical grow systems that could be used to solve these specific problems.

-- Karen Sipe, New Oxford Middle School, New Oxford – Expanding after-school building toys program to include more students.

-- Amber Stewart, Boiling Springs High School, Boiling springs – Using hydroponics to grow a winter garden.

For more information, visit the FirstEnergy Foundation website.