Overview:
Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative (CWEC) values education and training and understands that classrooms may have limited funding to pursue the projects needed to educate the young minds in our local communities. By embracing cooperative principle #5 Education, Training and Information, we are able to extend our resources to support STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) projects and initiatives.
Guidelines:
Funding is available for public, public charter, private, and home schools in our service area for classrooms with students K-12. The classroom project must be academically focused in the areas of science, technology, engineering, art, or math. The grant may be used to purchase equipment or curriculum materials and should be part of a well-planned and integrated project or activity. Instructors may apply for a STEAM grant up to $1,000 per school district, per academic year. Home schools are allowed to receive up to $100 per home school, per academic year.
Grant Eligibility:
Public Schools – Bowler, Iola-Scandinavia, Rosholt, Tigerton, and Wittenberg-Birnamwood. Public Charter, Private, and Home Schools – Must be within the Townships CWEC serves. Click here for a listing of the eligible Townships or call our office.
Applications will be reviewed by the CWEC Operation Round Up Board at its quarterly meetings to be sure they meet the qualifications.
The deadline to apply each quarter is as follows:
- January 1
- April 1
- July 1
- October 1
Requirements:
Please ensure that all forms are filled in completely before forwarding to us. Incomplete applications will not be submitted for consideration. Applications should be submitted 4-6 weeks prior to the date of anticipated need. Applicants agree that their name, photo, and the project may be used for any marketing purposes at Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative.
Examples of projects that would NOT be considered for funding:
Travel expenses, field trips, guest speakers, entry fees, t-shirts or other promotional items/prizes, and meals. If you are seeking funding for a project and think that the STEAM grant might not be the right place to apply, visit our Operation Round-Up page to see if you qualify for funding.
Applications:
Click here to complete and submit the application online
If you prefer to submit a paper copy send the completed application and any other pertinent materials by mail to:
Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative
Attention: STEAM Grant
P.O. Box 100
Rosholt, WI 54473
For more information about the program, please contact Brenda Mazemke at brenda.mazemke@cwecoop.com or (800) 377-2932.
Recipients of the STEAM Grant are listed below:
2024-2025 School Year
- Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District: $1,000; Materials for workshop exploring electromagnetism for middle school students
- Rosholt School District: $1,000; Material for K-8th Grade Math Intervention
2023-2024 School Year
- Bowler School District: $400; 10 Electronic Balance Scales for Middle & High School
- Rosholt School District: $500; Rocket Kits for 4th Grade Class
- Bowler School District: $500; STEAM Bins for First-Grade Students
2022-2023 School Year
- Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District: $1,000; Urban Search & Rescue Robot
- Tigerton School District: $1,000; Supplies to Build an Energy Bike
- Bowler School District: $551; Super-Mileage Vehicle Project
- Bowler School District: $448; Material to Build STEAM Morning Tubs for 1st Grade Students
- Rosholt School District: $1,000; Making Minds Project for students in Pre-K through 6th Grade
- Iola-Scandinavia School District: $1,000; Smraza Electronics Kits for High School Technology Class
AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVES $1,000 STEAM GRANT
February 2025 - The Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District has received a $1,000 STEAM grant from Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative (CWEC) to be used to create a workshop for middle school students about exploring electric and magnetic principles.
In order to create the workshop, Christina Priewe, physics and chemistry teacher for Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School, said that needed equipment and supplies will be purchased with the funds. The main piece of equipment to be purchased is a new Van de Graaff generator, which costs around $500.
“We have one that’s old, it doesn’t work that well,” Priewe said.
Most of the items that will be purchased with the funds will be able to be used in future school years.
While the electric and magnetic principles workshop will be geared to teach middle school students, the teaching will be done by 13 high school students enrolled in Priewe’s physics class.
“It will be a project built into their (high school science) curriculum,” Priewe said. “They’ve been mostly really excited about it. A lot of them actually do some volunteer work down in the middle school and elementary school now as well. This is something I think they are very interested in.”
For the workshop, around 40 7th and 8th grade students from the elementary school in Wittenberg will be bused to the high school to spend about a half a day at the science lab to be taught by high school students. Priewe said she is working on also doing the same for the 7th and 8th grade students at the elementary school in Birnamwood.
“This is my second year here, and I’m really excited about all of the support there is for our science department, growing that department, and the interest in science,” Priewe said. “I’m really trying to hook some interest in the younger grades. And we really focused as well on kids giving some community service back. A lot of my upper classmen really enjoy working with the younger kids, so it gives them a chance to master the concept and teach it. And it takes a lot more mastering to teach something than it does just to pass a test. It’s a way to have the younger kids up here to check out the lab facilities and see what they could do someday. And for the older kids to teach how you can make science more assessible and interesting.”
Priewe is hopeful that the workshop will allow students to “see how all the technology and everything all integrates together.”
Some of the things that will be done in the workshop include using engineering to design working models, creating unique take home pieces of art using the principles of electromagnetism, and using math to perform calculations to model the phenomena they observe.
“My goal really is to grow and promote our science here in the district to get kids interested in upper level science,” Priewe said. “And also, some networking and forming those bonds and mentorship between the older and younger students. Also, just to push creativity. Students who are creative know that there are lots of different ways to have output for that creativity.”