ARMSTRONG — Nathan Gayheart, a teacher at Armstrong Township High School, has been awarded a $2,000 grant from the Toshiba America Foundation.
This funding is specifically earmarked to fuel Gayheart’s STEM outreach program, which turn high school scientists into community mentors.
According to a release from the school, the grant supports a unique “near-peer” mentoring model. Under Gayheart’s leadership, ATHS science students travel to local grade schools and middle schools to lead hands-on STEM lessons. By putting high schoolers at the front of the classroom, the program aims to demystify complex subjects and ignite a passion for discovery in younger students before they even reach high school.
Toshiba America Foundation’s grants fund projects designed by individual classroom teachers. This “direct-to-teacher” approach brings immediate results. Teachers are able to change the way they teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects because the grant supports equipment for hands-on experiments and inquiry-based approaches to the curriculum.