By JAMES EVANS
Rutherford County Schools
Students in Tammy Anselmo’s class at Brown’s Chapel Elementary School will soon benefit from a program called “Project Makerspace.”
“It’s based on the ‘makerspaces’ that are popping up all over the country where, basically, you have variation of supplies and the kids are encouraged to make something from the supplies that they have,” Anselmo said. “So I would give them a task — say they have to engineer a cup holder for an airplane seat — they would have to use whatever materials that are available to them in order to make the best design.”
For Anselmo’s proposed project — which will be used by her fourth-graders and an after-school club — she was awarded a $500 minigrant from the Nissan and the Rutherford County Business Education Partnership.
Her project was one of 44 that received similar minigrants from the program. Teachers with Rutherford County Schools and Murfreesboro City Schools must apply for the grants, and awards are announced each semester.
The fall 2018 grant recipients were announced today at the Stones River Country Club as part of a celebratory breakfast. Representatives from both Nissan and BEP were on hand to congratulate the teachers and encourage their classroom efforts.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Nissan mini-grant program.
The following projects have been awarded mini-grants for fall 2018:
| Fall 2018 BEP Nissan Minigrant Awards | ||
| Name of Grant | School | Name |
| I Wonder | Barfield Elementary School | Sheila Berry |
| Coding with Drones…Inspiring to new Heights | Blackman Elementary School | Herman Nelson |
| Bridges to the Future | Blackman High School | Gayle Dawson |
| Cup of Conversation | Bradley Academy | Dr. Lori Housley |
| Project Makerspace | Brown’s Chapel Elementary | Tammy Anselmo |
| R is for Robots! | Buchanan Elementary School | Kathy Paul |
| Osmos for Kindergarten | Cedar Grove Elementary School | Holly Harwood, Sarah Patterson |
| Problem Solving and Storytelling | Cedar Grove Elementary School | Kimberly Glover |
| SaaaWEET! Before you eat-check the sweet(amount)! | Central Magnet School | Eve Harrison, Susan Gates |
| Hyped up on Energy: Incorporating 3 D instruction in science |
Central Magnet School | Lauren Lane |
| Pine “Would” You CAD? | Central Magnet School | Scarlett Murphy |
| Engineering a Calculus Revolution | Central Magnet School | Scarlett Murphy, Kyle Prince, Angelyn Pigg |
| Building the Wright Way | Christiana Elementary School | Amanda Amirault |
| To STEMfinity and Beyond | Christiana Elementary School | Rachel Prater, Amanda Neitzke, Lindsey McElhiney, Brittany Bounlisavong, Kristin Nugent, Megan Uptain |
| Moving to the Edge with Makerspace | Christiana Elementary School | Stefanie Edgell, Wendy Hambrock, James Steiner |
| We don’t need another hero, Students need SPHERO! | Christiana Middle School | Dawn Powell, Valorie Bonds |
| Get Tangy Together | David Youree Elementary | Jeania Smith |
| Letting Coding Take Root | Discovery School | Elizabeth Shepherd |
| Building Blocks of Story Development | Eagleville School | Leslie Trail |
| Tower Power: Aeroponic Classroom Gardening | Homer Pittard Campus School | Amy Perry |
| If You Build It, They Will come | John Pittard Elementary | Debbie Hickerson |
| The Art of Science | John Pittard Elementary | Debbie Hickerson |
| Sphero Heroes | Kittrell Elementary | Jo Lyn McWhorter |
| Mr. Roboto | Kittrell Elementary | Melissa Kincaid |
| Ballooning Buoyancy | La Vergne High School | Garry Gannon |
| High School Rocket Science | La Vergne High School | Garry Gannon |
| LLE STEM Vehicles | LaVergne Lake Elementary | Chelsea McDonald, Tanya Stephens |
| Chick’ Out This Grant Proposal! | LaVergne Lake Elementary | Rebecca Kramer |
| Educational Breakout! | Mitchell Neilson Schools | Anita Morton |
| Small Scale Thermochemical Experimentation | Oakland High School | Alice Brank |
| I’m in the Mood for Rube! | Overall Creek Elementary | Felicia Jackson |
| Cue the Robots | Rockvale Middle School | Carol A Parker |
| Classroom Transformations | Roy Waldron School | Holly Edwards |
| Stem Cells Go to College | Siegel High School | Christina Hurt |
| Stamping Out the STEAM Process in Art | Siegel Middle School | Amy Gray |
| “Frozen Hover Board” | Siegel Middle School | Brett Wainz |
| The Joy of Modified Toys | Siegel Middle School | Katie Harris |
| So You Want to Be an Inventor | Smyrna Elementary School | Heidi Redmon |
| Raise Grades With Raised Bed | Stewarts Creek Elementary | Marie Loyacano |
| Leave it to Beaver Engineering | Stewarts Creek Elementary | Melanie Strickland |
| Robo-Mom | Stewarts Creek High School | Amy Olt, Gina Stewart |
| Mary, Mary quite contrary, how did you say your garden grows?” Biodiversity and Hydroponics |
