Range Resources Launches STEM Scholarship Program for Washington County Students As the 2017-2018 school year comes to an end, hundreds of students in Washington County school districts are heading into summer, and the rest of their lives, with an enhanced understanding of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education thanks to a unique scholarship program funded by Marcellus Shale drill tory of partnering with local school districts. Its one way that the company fulfills one of its core corporate responsibilities: improving the lives of people in communities where Range employees live and work. have been sponsoring job shadows and career days for several years now, we are also strong supporters of programs like Junior Achievement, Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week, the Junior Livestock Auction at the Washington County Fair, and The Challenge Program here in Washington County." says Range's Christina Kramer. Anold High School student demonstrates This past year's STEM scholarship program grew out of those efforts. s Tsirt Launcher at Trinity High Schools These students are among the next wave of the Washington County Range sponsored STEM competition workforce, and we want to do our part to help them get ready for Bentworth Hgh School students show off their drone project at Ranges Southpointe office Range committed an initial $50,000 to launch a new STEM scholarship fund. Nine local districts submitted applications: Avella, Bentworth, Trinity, McGuffey, Canon-McMillan,Washington, Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, and Fort Cherry, along with Intermediate Unit a regional educational agency that services students in Washington County. But before rolling anything out, employees met with representatives from the applicant schools, to hear firsthand what the company could do to help supplement the necessary in the Freight Farm, and it's assisting in teaching how to conduct water quality tests using a real world tool that expands the skill set of participating students," explained Hartley. "This purchase would not have been possible without the grant opportunities offered by Range Resources. Having their support creates real world experiences and project-based learning for a multitude of Trinity students. Welsh shares that assessment of the value the grant brought to Trinity and other school districts. Trinity put forth a whole panel of science teachers who weighed in on what would be most beneficial for students," says Kramer. "We lso heard from several teachers and administrators from other districts. Most importantly, we wanted to be sure that that students would take something tangible away from this learning experience, and that it would be meaningful for them.And we were hearing that they needed something long-term, something more than just a one-day "These projects helped our students be A Canon-McMillan elementary school student demonstrates his project to Range employees at Southpointe students from all nine districts and IUI had the opportunity to present what they'd learned and field questions from Range employees at the independent thinkers and yet also work together to solve bigger problems.All of the students were able to work on their team building skills, problem solving skills, communication skills critical thinking skills, and last but definitely not Each of the nine districts plus lUI received $5,000.AP Physics Teacher Nicole Welsh saw value in divvying up the funds that Trinity So many of Range's employees also have children and grandchildren enrolled in thes same schools, so they really enjoyed seeing the students' projects and hearing about what they learned as a result of the STEM scholarship Mandi Figlioli, Assistant to the Superintendent We split the Range Resources grant among different departments. grants enhanced students' learning over the The VoAg program used it in the water testing process in the freight past year The funding allowed our students farm, the technology department used it for the robotics class, the physics department applied it to a rockets project, and the science department launched our first student-organized STEAM competition and expanded the walls of the classroom that included six other schools from around the area. We felt splitting environment up the grant across the school would mean more students would be impacted. to engage in experiences that were not in our xisting curriculum. It broadened their horizons, pro to be able to partner with so many caring and creative teachers, counselors, and school administrators here in Washington County, and we are already making plans for next years STEM grant.We can't wait to see what the teachers and students will come up with next! funds for programs that focused on robotics, High School teacher Jeanette Hartley was in charge of The equipment the Range grant enabled the school to purchase. system built inside a 40-foot shipping container.Water quality in Having a water quality testing tool directly correlates to the work water Freight Farm at Trinity, and was particularly grateful for water testing acrautics. "All of the experiences required students to take on challenging projects and "The Freight Farm is a fully-assembled, vertical hydroponic farming embrace failure as a means to growth. Range Sponsored content brought Resources provides more than just funding: they Once their projects were completed