Beverly Bunning, Jenn Netro, Stephanie Moreland and Mary Ellen Woods

The team’s innovative teaching idea, “Weather on the Gulf Coast,” is a lab-based program focused on providing students with the opportunity to learn about the impact of weather, specifically hurricanes, on their coastal community – while encouraging them to become independent thinkers. The lab, encompassing STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics), will not only enable students to learn about the issues surrounding disastrous weather, but will also equip them with the important skills to think critically, collaborate, create and communicate. With the grant, the teachers will build a dedicated STEAM lab to support this unique learning program for 890 students. They believe that students learn best when they are engaged in a fun, challenge-based, hands-on learning environment that connects real-word experiences with the school curriculum.