ON Semiconductor Grant Provides Sustainable STEAM Training to Educators
Written by Cassandra Savel, Corporate Social Responsibility Intern
As Arizona schools begin the new school year, ON Semiconductor is here to help. Educators and students alike are facing new challenges on top of an already stressed education system. Faced with declining budgets, public school teachers in the United States spend, on average, nearly $480 a year out of their own pocket to pay for school supplies needed in their classrooms. Knowing the important role classroom materials have in creating an effective learning environment, one Arizona nonprofit has been striving since 2004 to solve this problem in a sustainable and affordable way.
Treasures 4 Teachers (T4T) is a nonprofit dedicated to providing free and low-cost supplies to teachers in the Phoenix, Arizona area. As a donation-based operation, businesses and community members provide their unneeded reusable resources such as office supplies, magnets, fabric, paper, buttons, pencils, and more. From here, supplies are delivered by T4T directly to teachers or stored at two pick-up centers in Tempe and the West Valley. Educators use the repurposed materials in activities, crafts and lessons to reach over 135,000 Arizona students a year.
In addition to sustainably reusing waste and diverting items from the landfill to benefit student learning, T4T offers a creative array of professional development opportunities for teachers. Although in previous years their signature summer Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) workshops have been held in-person, the organization adapted to the current remote learning environment by offering a virtual education platform this year.
Through a grant from ON Semiconductor, 10 online professional development STEAM workshops for educators were offered in the summer of 2020 free of charge. Participating educators received three hours of professional development, the presented curriculum and T4T materials to use with students. Those recruited included Arizona educators, particularly those in Title 1 schools with low-income populations. The series worked through a variety of reality-based projects that function to assist in skill improvement and collective problem-solving among participants.
One of the featured workshops offered was “STEAM & Literature,” taught by Jennifer Beam, STEAM and robotics educator. This exciting lesson led participating teachers on a “digital adventure,” where a storybook activity is transformed into a simple STEAM challenge. The lesson curriculum aims to inspire children to construct, create and build their ideas. Activities like this are meant to make STEAM experiences engaging and meaningful through the art of making.
ON Semiconductor is happy to contribute to the success of the upcoming school year by assisting T4T in the important work they do to ensure educators have access to school supplies and quality professional development opportunities. By helping the environment through diverting waste and promoting STEAM education, T4T promises to create a more prosperous future for young people.
To learn more about Treasures 4 Teachers, visit https://www.treasures4teachers.org/.
Visit ON Semiconductor Foundation to further explore how we support charitable organizations and educational institutions through charitable giving.
