United Way of Southeastern Idaho Awarded $20k from Bayer Fund for Stem Learning lab

The United Way of Southeastern Idaho announced today it received a $20,000 grant from Bayer Fund, which will be used for expanding access to STEM opportunities to rural students with a mobile learning lab.

“One of our goals at United Way of Southeastern Idaho is to expand science, technology, engineering and math learning opportunities for children of all ages,” said Felice Otero, director of ImPACT East Idaho.

“Thanks to this funding from Bayer Fund, we will be able to deliver hands-on learning directly to children and youth in our rural communities.”

The mobile learning lab – called Think, Make, Create (TMC) Lab – is a makerspace trailer that comes equipped with art supplies, educational materials, maker-tools and curriculum for science, technology, engineering, arts and math education and is geared for pre-K to 8th grade.

“Throughout the years, the grants given through Bayer Fund have helped strengthen our communities across the United States,” said Al Mitchell, President of Bayer Fund.

“We’re proud to be able to provide support to develop programs like United Way of Southeastern Idaho, which has been critical in inspiring future generations for careers in the high-demand STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field.”

The Think, Make, Create Lab is a collaborative partnership of educational programs, agencies and private sponsors working together to deploy a fleet of mobile makerspace learning labs across Idaho. In just one year, over 8,000 youth in rural and underserved Idaho communities will use the labs and explore STEM careers.