The Battelle National Biodefense Institute (BNBI) and Frederick County Public Schools have recognized the recipients of $50,000 in teacher challenge grants for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

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Mark Trice, teacher and grant recipient, Catoctin High; Sheri Murphy, Assistant Principal, Frederick High; Dr. Nicholas Bergman, BNBI President; Carol Paulson, teacher and grant recipient, Frederick High; Dr. David Franceschina, Principal, Frederick High (Photo: Business Wire)

Representatives from BNBI and FCPS went to nine schools last Friday to surprise 15 teachers and their students with the news that their STEM proposals had been selected as winners. This year’s challenge grants ranged from $1,200 to $14,998.

“This long-standing partnership with BNBI continues to benefit and support valuable STEM initiatives throughout the county,” FCPS Superintendent Dr. Cheryl L. Dyson said. “By supporting these important projects, BNBI is helping spark learning, discovery and innovation.”

The nine winning proposals came from the following schools:

• Catoctin High - Using MiniOne Electrophoresis Apparatuses to Visualize DNA in the Modern Classroom
• Emmitsburg Elementary - Maximizing Learning with Virtual Reality
• Frederick High and Gov. Thomas Johnson High - Engineering for Young Scholars
• Myersville Elementary - Chicks in the Classroom
• Oakdale High - VEX Robotic Workcell Capstone Project
• Tuscarora High - CyberTitans STEM Outreach and Hardware Upgrades
• Walkersville High and Middletown High - Environmental and Biotechnology Experiences
• Walkersville High - Science Student Success
• Woodsboro Elementary - PK STEM Exploration Center

“Our staff have always loved working with FCPS on STEM outreach, and it was so much fun seeing the creativity, imagination, and innovation in the projects that these teachers proposed,” said BNBI President, Dr. Nicholas Bergman. “I’m thrilled that we could support them with this program, and grateful to the staff throughout FCPS who helped make this such a rewarding experience for not just the teachers and students but also for the scientists from BNBI.”

The FCPS/BNBI STEM partnership was established in 2009 with the long-term goal of getting more students interested in and better prepared to major in math, the hard sciences or engineering in college. Since its inception BNBI has directly gifted $667,000 to FCPS, and BNBI staff has committed thousands of hours of time to assisting curricula development, classroom instruction and STEM activities outside the classroom.

The Battelle National Biodefense Institute, LLC is a nonprofit Maryland company. BNBI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Battelle. Since 2006 BNBI has operated and managed the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, located on Fort Detrick, for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate as a federally funded research and development center.

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