The K-12 InVenture Prize/Georgia AIM project at Georgia Tech was awarded a $25,000 E2 Energy to Educate Grant from Constellation Energy Corporation that will bring solar robot cars to schools in rural parts of the state along with a new STEM curriculum that focuses on harvesting solar energy. 

Through the grant, solar cars and robotics coding kits will be available and on loan to any rural school in the Southwest Georgia area through Georgia AIM grant partners, beginning in Spring 2024.  

“This grant allows us to bring a brand-new solar energy focus to our work in rural areas of the state where we are already collaborating with teachers and schools in a number of programs that help prepare students for the high-tech jobs of the future,” said Danyelle Larkin, educational outreach manager with the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). “Students really love getting to work with cutting-edge technology including robots and solar-powered cars, so this is a great opportunity to really engage young learners in a fun, innovative STEM project.” 

The K-12 InVenture Prize, an invention and entrepreneurship program and competition at CEISMC, challenges kindergarten through high school students in Georgia to identify real-world problems and design novel solutions through analysis, creativity, and the engineering design process. Through the Georgia AIM federal grant, the K-12 InVenture Prize team is collaborating with school districts and businesses in rural parts of the state including Southwest Georgia, Southeast Georgia and Northeast Georgia with an overall goal to create new high-tech job pathways and wage opportunities in distressed and rural communities and among historically underrepresented and underserved people. 

Constellation is the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy, a leading supplier of energy products and services and is this year's Energy Award sponsor for K-12 InVenture prize State Finals. Through their E2 Energy to Educate Grant, Constellations supports hands-on student projects focused on science, technology, engineering and math and supports the company’s focus on workforce development, equity and education by encouraging young people from diverse backgrounds to get excited about STEM. 

 
Students who are selected to participate in K-12 InVenture Prize State Finals in March at Georgia Tech will also get a sneak peek at the solar cars and a chance to code the cars and run them through an obstacle course.  

—Randy Trammell, CEISMC Communications