STEAM Power WV grants provided by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation will contribute $162,432 to 41 STEAM projects throughout West Virginia. “The STEM to STEAM evolution is so important for education in West Virginia. Recognizing that every subject has an arts component opens the door for creativity and imaginative projects that will help students become more curious, more confident and more excited about what they are learning,” said WVDCH Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith. In this new grant initiative, the state arts agency offered up to $7,500 to schools and organizations that integrate the arts in their curriculum and community programming with STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math). Additional funding was provided by the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts in collaboration with the Governor’s STEM Initiative and the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences. The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. High Rocks Educational Corporation in Hillsboro received $3,750 for arts education programs including Creative Expressions, Musical Math and The Art of Science.
