Press Release Details

New grant awards from the Toshiba America Foundation to support exciting Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) education programs in grades K-5

Orange County, Calif. November 16, 2022-- The Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) today announced over $17,000 in grants for 18 innovative classroom STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic) projects in grades K through 5. 

The grants will allow students to learn about biology, chemistry, engineering, math, physics, and environmental science. Additionally, the grants will address local community issues with innovative hands-on lessons, such as coding, robotics, marine science, and sustainability initiatives – the common thread across all 18 projects is that they incorporate novel ways to introduce STEM disciplines into the classroom.

One such grant is Ms. Christine Maedke’s Honeybee project at the Gold Hill School in Gold Hill, CO. Her project will bring the big ideas of life cycle, interdependence, environmental health and community responsibility to life by immersing students in the raising and caring for honeybees. With TAF grant funds, her K to 5^th grade students benefit by providing them with hands-on experiences where they will get a glimpse of the complexities of life, habitats and ecosystems. This will give them the foundation from which they'll be able to critically evaluate the needs of flora and fauna in an ecosystem and identify human impacts.

"STEM occupations play a key role in the sustained growth and stability of the U.S. economy,” said John Anderson, President, TAF. “STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators. The grants being awarded by TAF will make the STEM classroom more exciting for both teachers and students – and result in more students becoming engaged in this crucial field." 

TAF’s grants take a “direct-to-teacher” approach by aiming to fund projects designed by innovative classroom teachers, which brings immediate results. Teachers are able to enhance the way they teach STEM subjects because the grant supports equipment for hands-on experiments and project-based learning in the curriculum. TAF believes that learning STEM subjects through this type of experience is a lot more fun and engaging than just reading a textbook.

STEM educators interested in applying for a K-5 TAF grant should apply here by Oct. 1. STEM educators interested in applying for a 6-12 TAF grant can apply here. The deadlines for > $5K are May 1 and Nov. 1. The deadlines for < $5K are March 1, June 1, Sept. 1, and Dec. 1.

About Toshiba America Foundation

Founded in 1990 with support from Toshiba Corporation and the Toshiba America Group Companies, Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) is a non-profit grant making organization dedicated to helping classroom teachers make STEM learning fun and successful for K to 12 students in U.S. schools. TAF grants support public and nonprofit private schools throughout the United States. For more information, please visit: www.toshiba.com/taf. 

A list of TAF Grant Recipients: