Create STEM Field Trips for Students from Alabama’s Black Belt

This Tiger Giving Day project will provide field trip travel funds for participants in the Greater Alabama Black Belt STEM Initiative.

Every summer, the Office of Special Projects and Initiatives hosts summer Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) academies for students in grades 7-10 from schools in Alabama’s Black Belt region. These academies increase college readiness among students by expanding their content knowledge in core subject areas including math, science, and English. In addition to classes and hands-on enrichment activities, students go on exciting field trips that show them real-life applications and connections to the material they have learned. 

Last year, students traveled to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, and to Auburn University for a campus tour. Locations of field trips in previous years have included the Southern Company’s aerial services facility in Birmingham, the Franklin Field Airport, and Alabama Power facilities throughout the state.

Past academies have shown that student test scores in math and science have improved by as much as 30 points—or three full letter grades—over the course of the program! Students have also demonstrated increased levels of self-confidence to succeed in school, interest in STEM careers, and commitment to go to college.

Your support will provide the opportunity for 120 deserving students to participate in these memorable and impactful field trips this summer, giving them STEM applications beyond the classroom, exposing them to STEM career paths and better preparing them for college studies.

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Funds raised in excess of a project’s goal will be used to meet the immediate and emerging needs of said project at the discretion of the sponsoring unit