Serving Barnwell County and its neighbors since 1852
Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC, has extended the deadline for applications for its K-12 Catalyst Grants for STEM Education to May 30, 2025, to give Central Savannah River Area teachers more time to apply for the $125,000 available through the program.
The K-12 Catalyst Grants for ST`EM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education program makes grants of $2,500 or $5,000 to Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) teachers to advance activities and programs related to STEM education.
CSRA teachers interested in receiving a $2,500 or $5,000 grant to fund STEM education in their classrooms, can apply for the grants at https://www.battellesra.org/catalyst/ where they will also find a sample application, a FAQ section, and two winning grant submissions.
The grants are funded through the Battelle Foundation Fund at the Columbus Foundation. Grants awarded in 2024 introduced STEM education to more than 6,500 CSRA students in 25 schools in the Georgia counties of Burke, Columbia, McDuffie and Richmond as well as the South Carolina counties of Aiken, Barnwell, Edgefield and Orangeburg. The 2024 grants funded STEM education projects that included robotics, environmental stewardship, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, 3-D printing, radio electronic and satellite technology, astronomy, agriculture, biotechnology and civil engineering.
After the deadline for applications passes, an impartial panel of scientists, engineers and leaders from Savannah River National Laboratory will judge each grant submission based on a rubric that considers the following criteria:
• Clearly stated description of the project
• Real-world applicability of the project’s subject matter
• Connection to STEM curriculum
• The purpose and goals of the project
• Budget details
• Sharing – how the project lessons will be shared
Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC (BSRA), a not-for-profit limited liability company, manages and operates Savannah River National Laboratory for the Department of Energy. The BSRA board leadership includes Battelle Memorial Institute, Clemson University, University of South Carolina, South Carolina State University, University of Georgia, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Battelle Memorial Institute and the five universities are joined in partnership with preferred subcontractors TechSource and Longenecker & Associates with the singular purpose of maintaining SRNL as a best-in-class national laboratory.
