Toyota nurtures science in schools with cash
A group of 50 U.S. science educators has been selected to receive $500,000 in grants through the Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Science Teachers Program. Fully funded by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS), the program recognizes and provides support to educators who are making a difference by demonstrating excellence and creativity in science education. The winning programs will begin project implementation in June 2011.
The Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Science Teachers program has been enhancing science education for students for more than 20 years. At the onset of the program in 1991, it offered an additional boost to the efforts of teachers across the country. Today, in light of the current crisis facing the nation's schools, the Toyota TAPESTRY program helps to ensure there are engaging science education programs available to get students excited about science.
Over the course of the program's 21 year history, Toyota has provided nearly $10 million in grants and touched tens of thousands of students nationwide. As a result of the Toyota TAPESTRY program, numerous educators have gone on to win prestigious awards, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, the NSTA Distinguished Teaching Award and the Einstein Fellowship Award. Additionally, teachers have had the opportunity to expand their science-based projects beyond their classrooms, and impact their communities and even state legislatures. Frequently, this includes garnering substantial additional funding for the teacher's program and school.
Program Overview
Sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. and administered by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the Toyota TAPESTRY Program serves as the nation's largest science teacher grant program of its kind and awards funding for innovative science proposals submitted by educators in environmental science. Since the program's inception in 1990, educators from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Mariana Islands have received Toyota TAPESTRY grants.
Judges, accomplished in various areas of science education, select projects that stand out in creativity, risk-taking and originality. Fifty teachers will receive grants of $10,000 each, totaling $500,000. This year's projects range from creating bio-fuel in an effort to help school communities go green, to increasing food production on farms in urban environments.
Toyota TAPESTRY is open to elementary, middle and high school science teachers in the United States and its territories. Teachers may apply individually or in teams online.. For more information about Toyota TAPESTRY grants, visit www.nsta.org/pd/tapestry.>
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