Applications open for teacher STEM grants from APS, Phoenix Suns
PHOENIX – K-12 educators across Arizona are invited to apply for APS and Phoenix Suns’ teacher STEM grants for innovative projects. As any science teacher will tell you – good science isn’t cheap.
Studies show the best way to get students interested in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) is not through books and lectures, but through hands-on projects that involve interactive problem-solving.
Challenges like building full-size cardboard boats and racing them across a public swimming pool, launching weather balloons into inner space and tracking its trajectory, and racing mini-solar cars to test hypotheses on how far they will go in full sun versus shade – these are the kinds of science activities that inspire young minds.
Past grant funded projects have allowed Coyote Springs Elementary School students to create mini-ecospheres. Photo courtesy of Elaina Verhoff.
For 14 years, APS and the Phoenix Suns have partnered with some of the most innovative teachers across the state to provide grants for projects that are engaging students and showing them the paths that lie ahead in exciting STEM careers. APS and Phoenix Suns are now accepting applications for STEM Teacher Grants for the 2019-2020 school year at http://bit.ly/2N5L0Ro.
APS and the Phoenix Suns have contributed more than $500,000 since the program began in 2005 to enhance STEM education in Arizona schools. Each year, the STEM Teacher Grants program provides grants of up to $2,500 per teacher with a total of up to $50,000 available during the 2019-20 school year.
Arizona K-12 teachers in public and charter schools within APS service territory are invited to think outside the box and develop innovative hands-on STEM projects, then apply for STEM Teacher Grants to bring their projects to life. The annual application period opens August 26 and closes on September 27, with awardees learning of their grant awards in December. Program procedures, criteria and STEM Teacher Grant applications are available at http://bit.ly/2N5L0Ro.
About APS
APS, serves about 2.7 million people in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties, and is the Southwest’s foremost producer of clean, safe and reliable electricity. Using a balanced energy mix that is nearly 50 percent carbon-free, APS has one of the country’s cleanest energy portfolios, including both Palo Verde Generating Stations and renewable energy. The company is also a proven leader in introducing technology and services that offer customers choice and control over their energy consumption. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the principal subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW).
About Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are Arizona’s original professional sports franchise and since joining the NBA in 1968, have been regarded as one of the most successful NBA franchises on and off the court. The Suns have featured some of the most iconic teams in league history, including the 1992-93 NBA Finals team led by Charles Barkley that is arguably the most beloved team in Arizona sports history and the innovative “Seven Seconds or Less” teams that were the precursor for today’s modern style of play. Suns Legacy Partners, LLC, led by Managing Partner Robert Sarver, owns the Phoenix Suns, three-time WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury, the NAZ Suns and operates Talking Stick Resort Arena, the entertainment center and heart of downtown Phoenix.
