County grants loan for STEM center.
Classes on coding and STEM-related job training will also be offered on the site.
The STEM hub is a partnership between the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities, the SIUE Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and the Madison County Housing Authority.
The STEM hub will be reaching out to all schools in Madison County with the primary focus this year of Madison, Venice, Granite City and Alton.
Dr. Ed Hightower, the executive director of the MJCH, has said that MJCH has a moral obligation to “foster positive interaction of youth through STEM and other educational opportunities.” Their focus, he said in a recent news release from SIUE, is “inclusiveness of youth of different cultures, races and ethnicities.
Many of the youth serve in public low-income housing developments and live at or below the poverty level, with limited access to healthy STEM opportunities.” Nearly 80 percent of Madison County Housing Authority family apartments have female heads of households, according to Andy Hightower, executive director of the MCHA.
“In an effort to decrease this percentage, we have developed programs that target young females,” Andy Hightower said in the SIUE news release.
“We feel that if the MCHA can provide young females with the tools and skills necessary to become successful women, it will have a positive impact on the community as a whole.” At the start of Wednesday’s County Board meeting, members recognized the Edwardsville High School boys’ track and field team, which recently won the IHSA 3A state championship.
They also recognized the EHS Journalism team.
The team tied for first place at the IHSA State Journalism competition on April 28 at Eastern Illinois University.

New Jersey American Water announces 2017 Environmental Grant Recipients.
sustainability projects to improve water source protection or watershed protection: Bridgewater Township Environmental Commission has been awarded $6,500 to install a demonstrative native plant garden with bee-friendly habitat and bee-friendly water bath at the Bridgewater Library.
Manasquan Board Riders Club has been awarded $2,500 to establish a year round project aimed at enhancing environmental awareness and stewardship on keeping beaches, parks, coastal waterways and estuaries litter free, titled "Leave Only Your Footprints."
South Orange Township has been awarded $10,000 to build a Rain Park based on the premise of a rain garden that will capture stormwater runoff that normally flows directly into the East Branch of the Rahway River.
Stockton University American Association of University Women (AAUW) has been awarded $10,000 to enhance a summer camp course, "Our Water" located at New Jersey’s only TechTrek Camp.
The summer camp is for 60 girls nominated as the top science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students in their middle schools.
"Now in its ninth year, our environmental grant program has provided more than $254,000 of needed support for 32 projects to help improve, restore and protect our valuable natural resources through partnerships," stated Anthony Matarazzo, Director of Water Quality and Environmental Compliance.
"Each of these organizations has made a commitment to make a difference within the communities we serve and we are proud to support these projects and the people behind them."
For more information on the Environmental Grant Program, visit the company’s website, www.newjerseyamwater.com.
New Jersey American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 2.7 million people.

This Simple Water Bottle Innovation Just Might Save Your Life Someday.
Caption Settings Dialog Beginning of dialog window.
Follow us this month as we highlight how STEM is shaping the culture of NOW.
Check out an exclusive Uproxx video about Yash Balaji along with stories about other STEM innovators here.
An innovator in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) will take a problem and tackle it head on — using innovative thinking to create new solutions.
Balaji invented CleanBottle in 2014, as a way to purify and decontaminate water using only the heat of one’s hands.
The amazing device provides clean drinking water without the use of disposable filters or solar power, and it just might streamline the way we help people access water – from natural disasters to war zones.
“It’s so simple to use,” Balaji says.
His answer was CleanBottle.
By killing the microorganisms present in the water through this simple process, Balaji hopes to save many lives.

This Simple Water Bottle Innovation Just Might Save Your Life Someday.
Caption Settings Dialog Beginning of dialog window.
Follow us this month as we highlight how STEM is shaping the culture of NOW.
Check out an exclusive Uproxx video about Yash Balaji along with stories about other STEM innovators here.
An innovator in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) will take a problem and tackle it head on — using innovative thinking to create new solutions.
Balaji invented CleanBottle in 2014, as a way to purify and decontaminate water using only the heat of one’s hands.
The amazing device provides clean drinking water without the use of disposable filters or solar power, and it just might streamline the way we help people access water – from natural disasters to war zones.
“It’s so simple to use,” Balaji says.
His answer was CleanBottle.
By killing the microorganisms present in the water through this simple process, Balaji hopes to save many lives.

Students at Estevan’s Westview Elementary School have made it into the top 150 finalists for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge.
The annual Solve for Tomorrow Challenge is geared toward Canadian students in grades 6 to 12 who find problems in their local communities and has them use STEM technologies to address the issues.
Davenport’s Grade 7 class and the other 149 finalists are now that much closer to becoming one of four regional winners, who’ll get presented with $20,000 Samsung technology grant packages.
The four winning finalists will also get a special event with Canadian rocket scientist Natalie Panek, who’s part of the Canadian contingent working on the European Space Agencies ExoMars rover.
“Especially evident with my recent work on the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Rover project, is that a career in STEM carries boundless opportunities.
“I’m so excited to meet these bright minds of tomorrow through Solve for Tomorrow—who knows, they might be the minds designing the next big space telescope or the spacesuits crew members will wear on a mission to Mars!” All of of the 150 regional finalist schools will get a Samsung technology package, which includes a Samsung Gear VR and Samsung Gear360 camera to help them in finishing their next ‘assignment’ as part of the Challenge: documenting the execution of their community solution in a three-minute video.
Mark Childs, Chief Brand Officer, Samsung Canada, said, “These 150 regional finalists embody what Solve for Tomorrow is all about: innovation, teamwork, and a commitment to the future of Canadian communities.
As we celebrate Canada’s 150th this year, we are excited to see inspired student solutions come to life that will have local, national and even global implications.” The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge aims to motivate STEM interest and 21st century learning opportunities in Canadian classrooms, which is an area of issue as less than half of Canadian high school students graduate with senior STEM courses though 70 per cent of top jobs demand expertise in science, technology, engineering and math*.
Together with Solve for Tomorrow ambassador, Paneck, and educational organizations The Learning Partnership and Let’s talk Science, the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge hopes to spark Canadian students’ passion for STEM to solve tomorrow’s problems today.
Other examples of 150 Regional Finalist projects moving on include a mobile app to monitor water pollution levels, a fruit and vegetable production plan to spur healthy eating habits, and other innovative ideas.

STEM expo: sustainability has a central role.
During the April 8 third annual STEM Expo at Wellesley High School, students and residents showcased nearly 100 exhibits covering various aspects of STEM such as robots, technology and engineering innovation, coding, environmental education, chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology.
Three WHS Evolutions students who participate in a project-based learning environment exhibited the details and benefits of their aquaponics project.
This cycle complements both the lettuce grown above the tank and the water and fish below it, as the plants filter out and redistribute clean water back into the fish tank.
They learned that this system can be used to feed high school students greens in a cheaper and local way.
Since the Town of Wellesley is working to increase its national ranking for voluntary renewable energy through the Power To Choose Program — and make its lower carbon footprint goal — this year’s Sustainability Challenge was very topical.
"It was evident that these students put in a great deal of time and energy into researching the topic, forming opinions and creating their projects," said Jessica Stanton, of Wellesley Green Schools.
Middle school students did a similar project, as three different Design and Technology classes used the newly built greenhouse to create a sustainable system to grow the maximum quantity of high-quality greens to feed students at WMS.
“It’s a really nice way to preserve water and great way of growing.” Two other Evolutions students, Calvin Lindquist and Tommy Wasson, proposed installing solar panels on Wellesley Middle School after their research determined it would be beneficial for the school to do so.
By using a plastic model of a town, featuring hills, rivers, farms, homes, a factory and a golf course, people sprinkled different smaller substances around parts of the town, representing fertilizers and pesticides among others.

The old students are Prof. John B.K.
The students—Belinda Dogbe, Elizabeth Fosu, Roberta Quansah, Stephanie Obbo, Jezreel Abbey Sam, Gideon Nyarkoh, Derrick Quansah and David Yaw Edu Arthur— qualified to participate in the international event in the USA after their “Indigenous Water Purifier” project was picked as one of the top three among senior high schools (SHS).
A teacher of Chemistry and Integrated Science at WINNESEC, Mr Cosmos Eminah, who led the students to the US, told the media on arrival in Accra that the journey to the US began last year when IREX organised the World Smarts STEM Challenge programme for senior high school students.
“IREX wanted to shore up the interest of Ghanian and international students in Science.
Of the many SHSs that applied for the programme in Accra, 17 were shortlisted, after which a competition was held to select the best for the US programme.
According to Mr Eminah, the Indigenous Water Purifier was used to treat polluted water from the Gyangyanadze community in Winneba.
The treated water was later taken to the Winneba Water Works where it was found to be 100 per cent contamination-free,” he noted.
He said the school collaborated with the McKinley Technology High School in the US to present the project at the challenge.
Dr Ampofo said old students of the school were proud of the current generation of students and encouraged them to continue to work hard.
“We want you to know that we care a lot about you and cherish what you do,” he said.