Mary Fink from JFK Elementary received $3,091.16 for her proposal, “STEM for Everyone.”

Mary plans to purchase a variety of materials including Osmo coding software, magnetic drawing boards, brainometry brain teaser games, Picasso Tiles, pixel puzzle sets, gravity maze marble runs, Hexbug Nano zone building kits, programmable robots, multiple block sets, and more. The supplies will be used in the library by the 600+ K-5 students at JFK. In the application, Mary wrote, “With these supplies, we will be doing school-wide challenges, exploring robot units, and finding creative solutions to problems. The lessons themselves will vary from free-form goals (What can you create with these materials?) to focused challenges (How strong of a bridge can you make with the supplies we have provided?) They will learn the basics of coding starting in kindergarten with the Code and Go Robots and grow in their programming knowledge through the Botley Robots and Hex Bug Robots in their later elementary years. In addition to having fun, they will learn about perseverance, cooperative work, and the scientific process of inquiry and trial and error. It will also give our female students, who have often felt overlooked in STEM-related occupations, encouragement to explore STEM fields in the future.”