STEM Fund a Need

Our kids have big dreams. And frankly, SO DO WE! We raised a significant amount of money during the 10th Anniversary Celebration event, which will support the Alliance’s ongoing efforts to enable the dreams of our children. We thank you sincerely for those donations. They will make a difference in our schools! But… honestly these funds are not enough. As we started planning the 10th Anniversary event, we also decided to dream big. (If you haven't seen the Orono "Two Dreams" video, please watch this empowering video below). We asked our award winning teachers and administrators to help us determine what Orono schools need right now to take our programs from A to A+. We asked them about their dreams of excellence. We asked them about enhancements and what is NOT in the budget.

That group came back to us with a clear request.

They felt that our highest priority right now should be to enhance our approach to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Curriculum (STEM). They presented the need for extensive technology in our classrooms and explained what our educators need to teach effectively. They gave us a prioritized list of equipment that is already in use today in other area schools. This equipment will begin to create state of the art learning enhancements for all K-12 students at Orono Schools.

One of the major STEM dreams is to purchase 3D model-maker printers for the STEM departments in the Middle School and High School. Here is a link that explains what an amazing teaching tool this prototype printer is: www.dimensionprinting.com. There are also STEM initiatives for K-5 possible through the purchasing of iPads and Nook eReaders that will improve the science, technology, engineering, math learning in K-5 that is a part of this entire Fund-A-Need. Based on the advanced learning style of students today, equipment such as this is quickly becoming standard use in classrooms with a variety of curriculum enhancement applications. We would like our students to be on the cutting-edge of this type of continued learning.

We presented this STEM Fund-A-Need dream the night of the 10th Anniversary event. We encouraged donors to step forward and support these specific STEM enhancements. We started with a $40,000 matching grant opportunity from John & Susan Morrison (parents of Jeanne Morrison Cook & Julie Morrison Arne). As a result, Orono parents met this match in minutes as we raised more than $90,000 the night of this event. It was an exciting night, however, we are not done. The total cost of these initiatives is anticipated to be $160,000. These dollars will be used directly to enhance our STEM curriculum.

As technology is continuing to be a major need at schools across the country, this specific STEM Fund-A-Need gets Orono moving in the right direction. There will be more needs in the future as this is just the tip of the iceberg. However, we are excited to know that If we raise money for this specific STEM Fund-A-Need this Spring, Orono is prepared to immediately implement these educational enhancements and be ready for student learning this Fall. Will you help? Every gift, no matter the size, makes a difference. Please consider donating to this need.

We want to thank those donors who have already stepped forward. We will be officially recognizing all of the STEM donors in the near future. Thank you!