Bosch Rexroth Fountain Inn Plant Funds School, District Grants
Hillcrest High, Fountain Inn Elementary, and the GCS Career and Technology Education Program have been awarded grants from the Bosch Community Fund (BCF) through the Bosch Rexroth Fountain Inn plant. The grants were awarded to create interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and environmental education.
Each year since 2012, Bosch Rexroth, through the BCF, has awarded $50,000 to schools and projects that support STEM and environmental awareness throughout Greenville County.
Hillcrest High School received a grant to support science and math education for its 2,100 students. Called R.A.M.S. – Real Achievement in Math and Science - the grant will be used to purchase technology using Vernier probe ware with a mini-lab quest interface to engage students in data collection that models real-world applications. The activities will allow students to explore environmental sustainability, mathematical analysis, and health careers.
Jennifer Southers, a math teacher at Hillcrest High, is eager to begin using the new equipment. “We will conduct activities where students can connect math and science. One example is a trigonometry unit where students will make predictions and tune bottles of water by adjusting the water levels. The sensor will record the sound waves in graph form on the computer, so students can see that sound waves have physical properties. They will also be able to make connections to possible career choices in, for example, audio engineering.”
Students will use the probe to sample, test and analyze water quality at various Upstate locations, followed by an analysis of the environmental impact of industry, development, and human disturbance of ecosystems over time. Other uses include taking medical measurements and simulating studies in the health sciences field. Math applications will include the study of issues that can arise when dealing with real data such as statistical outliers and human error.
Fifth graders at Fountain Inn Elementary School will tour the Fountain Inn Museum to see highlights of the roots of Fountain Inn industry and technology over the years. Approximately 125 students along with teachers from Fountain Inn Elementary will participate.
The Fountain Inn Museum will tie together the ideas and concepts that brought technology and industry together during its formative years, providing the history behind the technological and industrial developments of earlier days. Students will also visit Bosch Rexroth’s Manufacturing plant to combine the concepts of what the students learned at the museum with the modern developments of industry.
Greenville County School’s Career & Technology Education will implement a program called STEMBrace to support school counselor visits to business and industry partners to increase alignment and awareness between Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and STEM careers.
The STEMbrace program aligns with the STEAM Expert Teacher Training grant that was funded by the Bosch Community Fund in 2013. STEMbrace will assist school counselors in finding and sharing STEM career resources, gathering career information through shadowing and informational interviews, accessing labor market information on job trends, identifying academic, technical and employability skills required by business, connecting school-based and work-based learning experiences, and creating partnerships with local businesses and industries. The tours will be conducted before the end of the school year.
