DENVER - The American Water Works Association’s Water Equation announced today it will fund STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) youth education programs totaling $11,050. The award recipients are New Jersey Sea Grant, Girls Scouts of Central New Jersey, Pinellas County Utilities' South Cross Bayou (SCB) Education Program, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Girls of Promise and Women’s Foundation of Arkansas, and Seminole High School STEAM Academy.
New Jersey Sea Grant will use its awarded funds to create a pilot Aquaculture Apprenticeship Program to provide a pathway for students to enter a career in the aquaculture sector.
Girl Scouts of Central New Jersey will celebrate February as STEAM month and use its awarded funds to develop the curriculum to inspire girls to embrace and celebrate scientific discoveries.
Pinellas County Utilities’ SCB Education Program in Florida, will receive funds for its collaboration with Pinellas County Schools, the Florida Section of the AWWA and the West Coast Chapter of the Florida Water Environment Association to host a 2022 Water Festival to promote water education and careers.
Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Jupiter, Fla., will receive funds for its Unwrap the Waves initiative which reaches schools, community partners and students to reduce trash in aqua ecosystems.
The award to Seminole High School’s STEAM Academy in Sanford, Fla., will fund a project that links established science and math technologies involving data collection and analysis into environmental, construction and electrical engineering technologies.
Central Arkansas Water in Little Rock, Ark., will receive funds to provide support for STEM learning to area organizations including Girls of Promise and the newly founded Women’s Foundation of Arkansas internship program for college women of color majoring in STEM fields. The programs will expose them to careers in conservation and the environment.
Funding for youth STEAM programs is provided through Water Equation’s Women for Water Circle of Giving, which accepts nominations and awards funding. Donations for the program are accepted at http://we.awwa.org/we2022 or contact AWWA Sr. Manager of Development Michelle Hektor.