The Fairport Central School District has secured a $7,500 grant to fund hands-on science equipment and projects for middle school students. The Bosch Community Fund Grant application by Fairport CSD was approved in February.
The Bosch Community Fund is the foundation arm in the United States for Bosch, an international technology and manufacturing company. The Community Fund partners with non-profit groups and school districts across the country to help enrich STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education and environmental sustainability.
Previous Bosch Community Fund grants to the District have funded middle school technology programming and collaboration with Penfield Central School District to create other hands-on science kits and projects. In the 2019-20 school year, the District planned to use the grant funding to continue working on hands-on science kits for grades K-5, but pivoted to “Mystery Science Packs” to help enrich learning during COVID-19.
Fairport’s Director of Math, Science, Technology, and Art Kristin Larsen says, “The Bosch Community Fund has made a significant impact on the improvement of our STEAM programming in Fairport over the past 5 years…the lessons are engaging, fun, and enjoyed by both students and teachers.”
Larsen says she will work with middle school science teachers in the District to choose a unit from Open Sci Ed, obtain the hands-on learning materials, and pilot one unit in the 2021-22 school year.
“The 2021 allocation from the Bosch Community Fund will allow us to purchase the hand-on materials to pilot one unit of a new science resource at each grade level next year,” she said. “This pilot will provide us with critical information as to whether this type of resource will have a positive impact on student learning and engagement.”
Photo Caption: 7th graders at Johanna Perrin Middle School look through a microscope in Sara Donovan’s science class.