Brighton Area Schools is among those selected to receive grant funding for the implementation of STEM programs.

34 STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics programs are sharing $2.8 (m) million in state grants from Governor Rick Snyder’s MiSTEM Advisory Council. The recipients were selected out of 134 applications, with funding ranging from $24,000 to $100,000. Brighton Area Schools was awarded $53,007. The applications came from local and intermediate school districts, universities, and STEM providers.

The MiSTEM Advisory Council said the legislature stepped up to the challenge and appropriated funds to support this shift in culture, enabling STEM programming around the state to benefit from proven best practices. State Superintendent Brian Whiston said the grants’ STEM focus will help Michigan become a Top 10 education state in 10 years – the central goal of the Michigan Department of Education. The grants are said to align with the Top 10 plan’s goal of implementing high-quality classroom instruction through a child-centered instructional model with a strategy to enable public schools’ students to engage in integrated STEM programming. (JM)