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
- 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 DISTRICTS RECEIVE $1,000 STEAM GRANTS
September 2024 -The Rosholt School District has received a $1,000 STEAM grant from Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative (CWEC) to be used to purchase Math Genius Squad training materials for their Building First Through Third Grade Math Instruction Resources program.
The Math Genius Squad training materials will help the district’s new teachers, said Elizabeth MacDonald, math interventionist for the Rosholt School District.
“It has many different math resources. It has creative PowerPoints that go along with our current curriculum,” MacDonald said. “It also has video trainings that will help train them for each lesson. And then it also has Spanish resources, which will help out with our new population of Spanish speakers.”
MacDonald added, “We have the Expressions math curriculum, and the Math Genius Squad is all based on our current math curriculum so it will help give more support for our mathematics program.”
The Math Genius Squad training materials will also be able to be used in future years, MacDonald said.
“Of course, the knowledge they (teachers) take from this year will continue on in their teaching methodology,” added Mary Anne Cline, principal for Rosholt Elementary School.
MacDonald said the district has a lot of new teachers this year, and the Math Genius Squid training materials will be beneficial for them, as well as for the students.
“It will help give them the training that they need for our Math Expressions curriculum that we use,” MacDonald said. “It will help give them more resources that will make their first year a little easier. And it will allow me, as the math RTI specialist, to be able to go in and help support the classroom and provide more math RTI for the struggling students.”
Without the STEAM grant, MacDonald said the district would have had to wait to purchase the Math Genius Squad training materials, as the license for each different grade level costs more than $300.
“I’m just very grateful that this was available so we can help out our new teachers and really help support our beginning level math curriculum,” MacDonald said.
Cline added, “I’m just very thankful for the co-op and for the members of the co-op that allow grants like this to take place because we know that it takes a village to raise a child. We get lots of tax money and lots of money from the state, but this is an additional thing. This is an additional training that is above and beyond the training that has to take place that really helps teachers hone their skills.”