Granville County Public Schools Receives STEM Grant for Summer Programs

Cognizant recently announced it is awarding 40 grants to expand afterschool, in-school, and summer programs across more than 60 sites in 25 states through its Making the Future education initiative. Designed to promote creativity and inspire interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) among young learners, the initiative supports fun, hands-on “making” programs for students from grade school through high school. The 2016 grants will provide approximately 175,000 hours of making activities, including projects on electronics, robotics, computer programming, digital fabrication, 3D printing and wearable technology.

Granville County Public Schools will be using the $25,000 to hold a summer STEM camp for elementary, middle and high school students.  Details and registration information about the camp will be released soon.  “We are super excited to once again offer creative and cutting-edge technology projects to our students this summer.  Last year’s camp was a huge success, and we look forward to serving even more students this summer,” said Brynn Pendrak, District Math Specialist.  “Giving our students the opportunity to collaborate with hands-on projects develops math and science concepts, critical thinking skills, problem-solving techniques, and is just plain fun!”

Cognizant’s Making the Future initiative, part of the company’s overall efforts to promote skills that help ensure a competitive American workforce, was launched in 2011. Through the annual grants and other programs, Making the Future has introduced more than 260,000 children nationwide to over 1.9 million hours of making activities focused on STEM disciplines.

“Numerous studies show that in addition to developing their creativity, confidence and motivation, making is an excellent way for children to gain exposure to the STEM disciplines and gain experience with the types of workforce skills required to succeed in our evolving digital economy,” said Steven Schwartz, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Cognizant. “The talent shortage in the STEM fields is real. Through Making the Future, Cognizant is giving young learners an avenue for developing interest and passion for STEM subjects across socio-economic barriers and stereotypical gender divides. As a U.S.-based company and technology leader, Cognizant is committed to developing and supporting education initiatives that promote skills for the 21st century knowledge economy, helping American workers thrive today and in the future, and preparing our youth to capitalize on STEM career opportunities going forward.”

Making programs continue to be facilitated predominately by museums, libraries, Makerspaces and youth-focused non-profits. However, the 2016 Making the Future grant applications indicated increasing interest from a broader set of stakeholders, including: schools seeking to incorporate making as an integral part of classroom instruction; non-profit real estate development corporations investing in making incubators to grow creative economies; and colleges committed to collaborative projects with youth organizations in underserved neighborhoods.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp is an American multinational corporation that provides custom information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States.  www.cognizant.com

(Information received in a press release from Stan Winborne, Ed.S., Director of High Schools, Director of Career & Technical Education Program, Public Information Officer with Granville County Schools.)