The Northrop Grumman Foundation announced March 31 that it is launching its online contest, Fab School Labs, to encourage children to become innovators by creating science classrooms and technology labs that inspire.
The contest is designed to drive students’ interest in science and technology by giving public middle school teachers and school administrators the chance to create the science or technology lab or classroom of their dreams and provide students with access to the latest learning tools and technologies that will stimulate, as well as teach.
“Access to the latest technologies and learning tools can help our teachers be more effective in motivating the next generation of innovators, which is why we created the Fab School Labs contest,” Northrop Grumman Vice President of global corporate responsibility and President of the Northrop Grumman Foundation Sandra Evers-Manly said. “Children are naturally inquisitive and adept at many of the technologies available to us today. With the help of teachers and the community at large, we look forward to giving more kids the chance to succeed and thrive as they engage in the exciting field of science, technology, engineering and math.”
Now in its second year, the classroom makeover contest is open to public middle schools and will make five grants of up to $100,000 available to five winning schools to fund a school lab makeover. The submission window for applications begins May 1 and closes June 17.
To help meet the educational demands of today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, the Northrop Grumman Foundation – through its Fab School Labs program – is helping today’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) labs and classrooms become places of inspiration, imagination and opportunity for students.
Teachers, principals and school administrators can enter their eligible school, learn about the contest and submit their application with video and photos to help tell their story. Semifinalist schools will be chosen and their videos will receive online votes of support to assist with the final selection process. The winning schools will then team up with Fab School Labs contest partner Flinn Scientific Inc. to design a state-of-the-art lab complete with all of the tools, resources, furnishings and finishes needed.
In the program’s inaugural year, nearly 200 public middle schools nationwide participated in the contest. The five schools selected to receive a grant of up to $100,000 for a classroom makeover.
