Local
Two schools receive $100K Catholic Schools Foundation Prize Grant
By Pilot Staff
Posted: 8/29/2014
Students at Blessed Sacrament School in Walpole create a "volcano" science experiment. Blessed Sacrament and Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton will share a $100,000 grant from the Catholic Schools Foundation to joint develop a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum. Pilot photo/courtesy Catholic Schools Foundation
BOSTON -- The Catholic Schools Foundation (CSF) has announced that it will award a shared $100,000 grant to Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton and Blessed Sacrament School in Walpole designed to help the schools collaboratively plan and launch a new, innovative curriculum. The funding will allow the schools to enhance the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum with key lessons from religion and the arts.
"Enhancing access to fields like science and engineering, while also providing a strong foundation in faith formation, are essential elements in ensuring our students are equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st Century," said CSF executive director Mike Reardon. "Our goal is to provide schools with the resources and encouragement they need to provide innovative education opportunities tailored to the communities they serve."
The collaborative effort between Blessed Sacrament School and Trinity Catholic Academy received the funding through CSF's Prize Grant program, which recognizes and funds innovative education and management programs at schools across the Archdiocese of Boston. The two schools were chosen because of their collaborative approach to implementing a STEM curriculum that fully integrates religion and the arts. The new initiative, dubbed STREAM, will promote national Common Core competencies and broaden student access to local scientific and cultural resources.
"Through this grant, our two schools have been given an amazing opportunity to create an innovative and interactive new program," said Jim Spillman, the principal of Blessed Sacrament School. "Throughout our country, there is a big push for improved STEM education in our schools. As Catholic schools dedicated to the education of the whole child, we can take it one step further and look at the STEM subjects in the context of our faith, while also integrating an arts component into this collaborative curriculum."
Echoing that sentiment, Dr. Michael Green the regional director of Trinity Catholic Academy said, "We are very excited to be partnering with Blessed Sacrament on this initiative. Through unique STEM-focused learning experiences in and out of the classroom and enriched by the arts and Catholic social teachings, our students will be able to fully explore and learn from the world around them. What a very special opportunity the Catholic Schools Foundation has given our students."
