Nearly 40 Innovative STEM Projects Win O&R Grants Totaling More than $36,000
O&R today awarded grants totaling $36,233.72 to support 39 creative, cutting-edge classroom projects that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
O&R’s STEM Classroom Grants provided up to $1,000 each to educators at schools (pre-kindergarten through grade 12) and youth group leaders for the 2020-2021 school year in communities located within O&R’s service area.
The winning projects featured subjects ranging from robotics to hydroponics and solar to wind power. Here’s a link to the virtual awards presentation program.
Among the Bergen County O&R STEM award winners are these students and their teacher Jennifer Paradiso from the Heights Elementary School in Oakland. This photo was taken prior to the implementation of COVID-19 masking and social distancing protections. The winning project is called Adding the “A” (Art) to STEM: Combining Art and Technology with Sphero Robots.
A complete list of this year’s winners is at the end of this press release.
Talented, hard-working, thoughtful teachers have crafted ambitious, interesting, ingenious, sparkling lesson plans that dazzle. These out-of-the-box proposals are designed to challenge students to think, plan, act and achieve --- and have fun doing it.
O&R President and CEO Robert Sanchez said, “In the face of difficult classroom challenges, this year’s STEM grant recipients have shown admirable resilience and unwavering commitment to their students’ education. They truly are our classroom heroes. Their proposals are impressive in scope and application and will inspire learning for a brighter future.”
Over the past six years, O&R has awarded 236 STEM Classroom Grants totaling nearly $210,000. Those grants ranged from $175 to $1,000.
The grants were awarded based on a review of teacher-submitted proposals by the O&R STEM Education Advisory Council, a panel of educators and engineers assembled by O&R expressly for this purpose. This year, the Council reviewed 55 applications and awarded 39 grants.
Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. O&R is a regulated utility. It provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.
The 2020-2021 winners are:
In Orange County, O&R made 18 grants totaling nearly $17,000. The winners are:
- North Main Street Elementary – Monroe/Woodbury Schools - $996.45
- Pakanasink Elementary – Pine Bush Schools – $569.53
- Pine Bush High – Pine Bush Schools – $895
- Orange-Ulster BOCES – Grades 11,12 - $998
- Chester Elementary – Chester Schools – $982.14
- North Main Elementary – Monroe/Woodbury Schools – $905.19
- Central Valley Elementary – Central Valley Schools – $996.72
- Lee Archer Red Tail Youth Flying Program – Private - $1,000
- SS Seward Institute - Florida Schools $939.88
- Tuxedo Park PreK-4th – Private – $990.04
- MHA Preschool – Private – $940.80
- Middletown Day Nursery – Private – $968
- SS Seward Institute – Florida Schools – $938
- Smith Clove Elementary – Monroe/Woodbury - $905.21
- George M. Mason – Tuxedo Schools – $964
- Tuxedo High – Tuxedo Schools – $1,000
- Northern Academy of the Arts – Private – $1,000
- Middletown Day Nursery – Private – $987.99
In Rockland County, O&R made 13 grants totaling nearly $12,000. The winners are:
- Stony Point Elementary – North Rockland Schools – $998.30
- Evan’s Park Elementary – Pearl River Schools - $975.30
- Franklin Ave. Elementary – Pearl River Schools – $969.25
- West Nyack Elementary – Clarkstown Schools – $259.99
- Viola Elementary – Suffern – Suffern Schools - $945
- West Haverstraw Elementary – North Rockland Schools – $989.82
- Sloatsburg Elementary – Suffern Schools – $999.95
- Fieldstone Middle School – North Rockland Schools – $906.19
- Fieldstone Middle School – North Rockland Schools – $1,000
- Rockland BOCES – Grades 9-12 - $1,000
- Woodglen Elementary – Clarkstown Schools – $819.39
- S. Orangetown Middle School – S. Orangetown Schools – $999.61
- Willow Grove Elementary – North Rockland Schools - $997
In Bergen, O&R made 8 grants totaling over $7,000. The winners are:
- Academy of the Holy Angels – Private school – $1,000
- Memorial Elementary School – Montvale Schools – $995
- Academies at Gerrard Berman Day School – Private School – $990
- Northvale Public Schools – Northvale Schools – $1,000
- Oakland Public Schools – Oakland Schools – $822.07
- T. Baldwin Demarest School – Old Tappan Schools – $990
- The French American Academy – Private School – $699.95
- The French American Academy – Private School – $899.95
Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.