Scholarships and Grants

Scholarships and Grants

The Scientists' Society's Scholarship and Grants program supports and encourages students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and focuses particularly on younger students who are still undecided as to their future.

Strategy for 2023/24

Our strategy is to continue our focus on middle school students as well as programs that benefit a larger group of students. We are limiting our college bound scholarships to two. We liked the process of picking the schools and letting the teachers and guidance counselors choose the student. They are the closest to the students and know them better than we could. We like what we have done in the last 6 months and our follow-up has been positive. We have decided to focus on what we have currently supported and continue to evaluate the program.

Funding

The funding for these programs comes from the generous donations from our members.

Programs for May 2023- April 2024

College Bound Scholarships (4 total)

We will give one $2,000 college-bound technical scholarship this year. We will work with our contact teachers to choose the student.

We will give 1 $2,000 technical scholarship this year to a student going into the IT field at the Cape Coral Technical College. This could be either in computer systems or network management curriculum.  

In addition, the scientists’ Society will also be giving 2 scholarships to students as FSW as part of our 501.c.3 endowment.

FGCU’s Whittaker Center Engagement

We will continue to fund $2,000 to the GEMS (girls in engineering, math, and science) program targeted at middle school girls. The classes are held 4 Saturdays during the school year. Also, we will fund the 2 summer camps at $2,000 each. Coding and Mathletes Summer Camps are for middle school students.

We funded the AMC-8 Middle School Math Contest hosted by the Math Department at FGCU for $500.

Edison/Ford Education Programs

We will sponsor 1 week of summer camp as well as scholarships to other weeks at Edison/Ford for a total of $5,000. They are well run, and the kids love them. We have funded $1,000 for the LEGO robotics team. We may ask for additional funds if they go to state and nationals. They are doing very well again this year.

Java The Hutts

We are sponsoring the Jave the Hutts high school level robotics team for $1,000. They did very well last year.

Grants for Lee County School Teachers for Science Class Supplies

We funded up to 23 grants at $250 each to teachers for the use of purchasing supplies for their science classes. It was a first come first serve basis for the science teachers. We spent $5658 for this program. We receive many thanks from the teachers for this program.

Lee County Schools Regional Science Fair Awards

We gave $500 in certificates and monetary awards at the Regional Science and Inventors Fair. They are divided between junior and senior categories.

Technology Student Associations

These are competitive student groups that meet after school. Students work on a variety of challenges/projects that take months of involvement. Topics can be Biomedical, Forensics, Programming, Game Development, Airplane Gliders, Solar Cars, Cad design, etc. Then they compete with other schools throughout the area and state. We funded this program for $1500; $500 for Oasis, $500 for IDA Baker High and $500 for Dunbar.

Ding Darling WOW (Wing on Wheels) program.

Ding Darling Refuge has modified a large vehicle to house a wonderful array of hands-on science displays. They spend at least 2 weeks on site at Title 1 schools. While there, classes cycle through every 45 minutes. During that time, they are taught what they are learning in their class curriculum as it relates to their displays. It is a wonderful project. It costs Ding $150,000 a year to operate the program. We funded it at $10,000 and will try to get a co-sponsored by plaque.

Unallocated Funds

We left $2,000 unallocated for any opportunities that might come up during the year. 

Program Summary: 

$2,000 - 1 College Bound Scholarship

$2,000 - Cape Coral Technical College

$0 - 2 FSW scholarships

$6,500 - FGCU Programs

$2,000 - Coding Camp

$2,000 - Mathletes Camp

$2,000 - GEMS

$500 - AMC Math Contest

$6,000 - Edison/Ford

$5,000 - Summer Camps

$1,000 - Robotics Program

$1,000 - Java the Hutts Robotics team

$5,658 - Grants for Science Teachers

$500 - Lee Schools Region Science and Inventors Fair Awards

$1,500 - Technology Student Associations

$10,000 - Ding Darling WOW

$2,000 - Unallocated Funds

Scholarship Committee:

Trudy Sampson, Chair

Dr. Richard Devlin

Dr. Frank Palaia

Susan Fay

Darrel Smith

Marlene Smith

Carol England

Total of $37,158 spent on STEM programs for the students of Lee County.

Contributions

We hope to inspire excitement in STEM throughout the students' education. Please join our donors in contributing to our STEM education fund. We have two restricted contributions funds: STEM Education, which funds our programs to encourage elementary, middle and high school students in Lee County develop an increase their interest in science and support science teachers through grants, and Student-Teacher Dinners, which pay for the dinners of the outstanding students and their teachers who we invite to attend our April student recognition and awards program. All contributions to these funds are restricted only to those programs. Our third fund is non-restricted and used for other elements of our mission as approved by our Board of Directors.

We encourage your contributions so we may continue to expand our positive impact on STEM interest and education.