Yarmouth, Maine, August 11, 2020: Through the generosity of the Davis Family Foundation and Toshiba America Foundation, North Yarmouth Academy (NYA) is extremely grateful to receive grants totaling over $53,000 to reinforce S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) initiatives campus wide. This adds to over $150,000 in funds secured in support of STEM education at the Academy via private donations over the past three years.
NYA STEM Coordinator, Terry Bartick, secured $3,133 from the Toshiba America Foundation to purchase underwater remotely operated vehicle kits and enter NYA into the Sea Perch program. Sea Perch is an innovative underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in an in-school or out-of-school setting. Teachers and students can follow a step-by-step guide, or more motivated students can create vehicles of their own design. The underwater rovers will be part of Bartick’s Introduction to Engineering class in the Upper School and also available to Middle School students during enrichment periods.
“The Sea Perch project will be giving students the chance to design, build and test a device that is actually used in industry to solve marine problems, said Bartick. “They will need to figure out how to make multiple components interact with each other, and evaluate the real implications of trade-offs for a design that needs to be reliable. They will be developing engineering skills like soldering, materials selection and programming. I am excited to bring this experience to NYA students so they can get a taste of what it is like to be an engineer.
Bartick plans to team with local marine professionals to give the students a real-world problem to solve. She hopes to enter a regional Sea Perch competition in the spring of 2021.
A recent $50,000 grant from The Davis Family Foundation will strengthen the growing STEM program at NYA and ensure faculty are equipped with resources need to implement effective approaches to STEM teaching across all divisions. This multifaceted approach included:
- Upgrading the core network infrastructure at the Academy to support the demands of the modern classroom
- Creating STEM experiences for younger students with broader access to technology for robot building and programming, 3D printing, video creation, and more
- Offering more STEM challenges/competitions (Maine State Science Fair, Solar Car Challenge, Maine 3D Printing Design Challenge, etc.)
- And other enhanced STEM offerings which will be added to the curriculum and co-curricular experiences in the coming year
“We are grateful to the Davis Family Foundation for their continued generosity,” said NYA Director of Development Jennifer Richard. “The Foundation’s most recent investment will make a tremendous, positive impact by ensuring all NYA students will have access to high-quality learning opportunities in STEM subjects for generations to come.”
