INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY GRANT AWARDS
AWARDS
Explore the creative and meaningful projects funded by Innovator Grants in years past.
Fort Zumwalt School District
$63,880
To provide personalized one-to-one language support across speaking, writing, and listening domains through the purchase of 144 Chromebooks for emergent ELL students and 10 Google Gemini Pro licenses for educators. Grant-funded equipment will help remove linguistic barriers to improve English language acquisition, enhance student engagement, develop digital fluency, and create a more equitable learning environment for ELL students in the Fort Zumwalt School District, who collectively represent over 36 languages.
KIPP St. Louis
$36,933.37
To provide “TeachFX” licenses and support for three KIPP Schools. Teach FX captures classroom audio and provides real-time coaching feedback to teachers by measuring student-toteacher talk ratio, question types, wait time, and student participation and discourse patterns. TeachFX helps students become active partners in their instructional improvement and sets instructional goals for students and teachers to monitor progress through six high level instructional practices.
Nerinx Hall High School
$54,448
To provide “TeachFX” licenses and support for three KIPP Schools. Teach FX captures classroom audio and provides real-time coaching feedback to teachers by measuring student-toteacher talk ratio, question types, wait time, and student participation and discourse patterns. TeachFX helps students become active partners in their instructional improvement and sets instructional goals for students and teachers to monitor progress through six high level instructional practices.
Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School
To provide comprehensive resources to enhance STEM education for sustainable, year-round learning, including summer programming, supporting hands-on learning and partnerships with community organizations. Grant funding includes robotics kits and carts for the Bowbot Robotics Team, educator laptops, support for summer STEM enrichment programming, science resources, and field trip transportation.
$70,000
The Biome School
To provide 14 Mirror Talk devices to transform instructional coaching, address teacher shortage, promote equity, and enhance instructional practice and student voice. Mirror Talk introduces a hybrid human-technology model to reduce teacher coaching feedback time by 85% and improve student engagement and learning outcomes.
$44,296
The Fulton School
To support a student-created project that integrates virtual reality and physical timelines with robotics and AI technology to enhance individual and class lessons. Students will design a website with a virtual reality timeline, build robots, and create 3D-printed models to transform a school hallway into an interactive learning space.
$20,988
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$68,573.29
To create an Innovation Hub to foster innovation, collaboration, real-world problem solving, empowering students to explore emerging technologies and develop critical thinking skills. The Innovation Hub will serve as the headquarters for the 5th day program, design thinking courses, student enterprises including the Drone Crew 2.0—Crossroads’ video production firm and the student-run market.
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$55,865.20
To create two Social Emotional Learning Lounges at the middle and high school for students disproportionally impacted by trauma. The Social and Emotional Learning Lounges let students explore, understand and manage emotions through five zones; iCreate (engage in independent mindfulness activities), iMove (encourage movement through virtual reality to reduces stress and increase emotional regulation), iRelax (learn calming techniques through apps and virtual books), iFeel (interactively explore emotions, mental health and wellness) and iConnect (engage with peers and develop career readiness skills through virtual reality).
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$67,000
To provide a career and college readiness website and mobile app called Connect to connect students, professionals, mentors, and alumni in all career fields to learn about careers, network, and be introduced to resources for achievement. Connect will also offer virtual and live job shadowing and events like career fairs to introduce students to industries and professional networks.
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$67,676
To utilize an AI powered application to guide students in applying systems thinking to key areas like social emotional learning, robotics, and real-world student led problem solving. AI and coding tools will help students see the world differently, recognize connections, learn design solutions and use knowledge gained to solve community challenges.
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$36,933.37
To create a STEAM Lab that houses art and library materials to collaborate and promote literacy, creativity and innovative thinking; to curate new items for classroom lessons, to teach students a design process with end-result products from approved student pitches sold in the school store, and to form an after-school STEAM club.
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$59,790.80
Maplewood-Richmond Heights Elementary School will expand their Museum metaphor by embedding it in the district’s strategic learning management system, encouraging students to use new technology. -
$60,564.22
Vocational Skills Program (St Louis County Special School District) will expand the specialized training skills programs to introduce new options to young adult students with disabilities.
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$39,120.70
Crossroads College Preparatory School, a private school, will redesign its 5th Day curriculum with unique interdisciplinary courses, a new schedule, and blocks of combined learning.
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$18,969.00
Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls, a charter school, will implement a Green Architecture course to increase excitement around urban planning, 3D modeling, and sustainability.
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54,871.00
Lindbergh High School in the Lindbergh School District will create an aviation career path, including the principles and physics of flight and FAA drone certification.
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$42,462.76
Parkway Central High School in the Parkway School District will use STEM-driven processes to build an orienteering and nature trail adjacent to the high school, accessible to district students and families.
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$26,771.60
Robinwood Elementary School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District will use problem-based learning to rethink how STEM can be used in their indoor/outdoor classroom.
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$32,651.58
St. Louis Priory School, a parochial school, will expand their outdoor classroom content using sensors, drones and cameras to capture and analyze data for surveying and podcasting.
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$67,302.76
Webster Groves School District will expand their Thrive Incubator high school entrepreneurship program into elementary social studies and an after school club as well as middle school classrooms.
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$35,999.92
Christ Community Lutheran School, a parochial School in Saint Louis County, will expand use of a Microsoft HoloLens 2 Laboratory, which allow science, coding, or design students to explore real world environments.
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$57,285.77
Fox High School, in the Fox C6 school district, will enhance their cybersecurity classes and computer science capabilities through an upgraded technology lab.
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$51,000
Gateway STEM High School, a Saint Louis Public School, will expand their GEMINI Lab, encouraging students to use the design process to innovate, build, engineer and invent.
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$10,614
Notre Dame High School, a parochial school, will expand their E-sports lab, becoming a regional hub for all girls teams to participate in student-run clinics, tournaments and computer science events.
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$34,912.98
Peine Ridge Elementary School in the Wentzville School District will create the Peine Ridge Innovation Garden, including a labyrinth, wind powered book nooks and a garden with a solar powered greenhouse.
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$68,100
The Soulard School, a Saint Louis Charter School, will learn about the benefits of composting through the integrated use of technology, nutrition and science.
*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
ITEF did not offer 2021 Innovator grants.
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$47,097
3-GENERATIONS TECH: Middle school students will partner with an elderly community to share life stories and experiences, then create vlogs and podcasts. The students will teach their older partners about social media and technology through the use of iPads.
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$62,029
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SITE: K-12 students will restore the Mount Zion cemetery, preserving an element of early African American history in Jefferson County. The project will identify, memorialize, and celebrate the people buried in Mount Zion while honoring the historical significance.
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$79,208
Third-fifth grade students will participate in a social-emotional learning-based initiative focused on financial awareness, environmental systems, and a robotic healthy lifestyle model. The project integrates mathematics and reading goals
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$60,392
#HANDNHAND
Connecting students to community organizations as a vehicle to increase empathy and compassion through innovative uses of technology.
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$46,505
VARSITY ESPORTS LAB
The use of desktop computing to create a varsity Esports Lab.
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$46,200
OPERATION GREEN SCHOOL
Project-based field learning to increase student-initiated green practices.
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$56,354
INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH NON-PROFITS
Student and community-based collaboration to collect, analyze and catalogue data.
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$22,500
POLLINATOR’S PARADISE
Student-designed project utilizing the engineering design process to create habitat for pollinators in order to remediate annual mosquito invasion.
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$49,000
RENOVATED LEARNING
Incorporating a new approach to teaching and learning in a state of the art makers space/robotics lab.
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$23,000
FUSE STUDIO
Fuse Studio is an engaging and activity-based STEAM program which provides challenging activities in a self-directed learning environment.
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$30,000
MIRIAM ACADEMY TELEVISION STUDIO
MATV is a multi-media video recording and editing studio that offers students hands-on opportunities to explore and learn video production.
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$60,000
SUMNER STREAMING STARTUP
Sumner Streaming is a student-led online network which will showcase student-created content in six learning areas.
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$51,000
ENGAGING CHILDREN IN LITERACY THROUGH PROJECT BASED VIDEO GAME DESIGN
Using Bloxels, an inventive video game creation tool, students will use bloxels to tell student created stories.
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$35,000
ROOTED IN STEM
A hands-on, experiential project which integrates technology into school garden management.
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$50,000
TWO STARS TO THE RIGHT, STRAIGHT ON TO LEARNING
This project uses field missions to excite, inform and ignite intellectual curiosity and includes students, family, and community.
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$46,200
BUILDING PERSPECTIVE & EMPATHY THROUGH 21ST CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHY
Using photography as a vehicle to explore empathy and community with the support of professional photographers.
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$66,000
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING: EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO IMPROVE THEIR WORLD
Mobile themed carts to ignite project-based learning while introducing a variety of problem-solving experiences to students.
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$28,000
SOW, GROW, VIDEO
Using the culinary arts program as a path to hands-on learning about food, food systems, and growing cycles.
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$62,000
WILDCATS INNOVATION LAB
Creating a STEAM space to encourage student collaboration and foster student curiosity.
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$68,000
The Junior Journalism Project
A student-led, weekly news segment designed to develop student voice and communication skills.
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$60,000
Inform, Investigate and Inspire
A digital portfolio project and on-site recording studio.
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$13,604
STEAM over the Digital Divide
A technology-based music education program, using digital apps to augment traditional instruments and increase exposure to composition.
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$41,000
The FarMaker Space
A farm experience designed to teach problem-solving in an agriculture-centered environment.
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$60,000
STEM-RISE Agriculture Lab
A STEM program for K-8th grades that applies STEM concepts to farming. WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
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$53,253
ILEARN: ADVANCING EDUCATION WITH STEAM
Buder Elementary has developed a film production and digital storytelling program for all K-5 students which bridges the learning gap to the digital media and video production programs offered in the Ritenour High Schools. Outcomes: Increase student learning and engagement through multimedia projects.
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$65,747.97
INNOVATIVE & ETHICAL SOLUTIONS THROUGH CREATIVE WORK IN THE MAKERSPACE
Using design thinking, students in grades 7 – 9 will employ empathy, a tenant of the Crossroads mission to guide their work and exploration in a Makerspace.
Outcomes: To inspire students for continued exploration in the STEM fields. -
$33,501
ROBOTICS PROGRAM
In order to increase the number of young students exposed to STEM, Immanuel Lutheran has created a robotics program for all students in grades 3 – 8 that include opportunities to solve engineering challenges and program robotics as a regular part the science curriculum. The program also extends intensive robotics learning opportunities for teachers. Outcomes: Students will participate in robotics projects and develop knowledge and skills related to STEM content.
Bonus: IL will partner with River Roads Lutheran to bring robotics to underserved students. -
$69,649
THE MOBILE INNOVATION CENTER
Rockwood School District is launching the Mobile Innovation Center, a converted RV, to bring purposefully designed challenges, which use 3D printers, modeling and design software, robotics and Makerspace equipment to elementary schools within the Rockwood School District. Outcomes: To increase early exposure and access to STEM education.Outcomes: To inspire students for continued exploration in the STEM fields. WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
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$63,831
THE TOTAL WELLNESS PROJECT
The Soulard School is bringing the Total Wellness Project to its K-5 students. The project addresses the need for holistic learning with an integrated curriculum, connecting health and wellness to larger curriculum goals. Students will use individual polar active monitors to track personal fitness, nutrition and sleep patterns. Outcomes: Students will increase activity time and technological literacy.
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$61,080
INNOVATIVE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE STEAM CAREERS- 3D PRINTING
Notre Dame High School is rolling out a cross-discipline collaboration between the Math, Visual Arts and Marketing departments. Students will start with advanced mathematical functions and develop them into visual, actual 3D forms using computer-assisted design. The Visual Arts and Marketing Departments will take the forms and use them to teach design, functionality and market research. Outcomes: Students will develop logical thinking and problem solving strategies.
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$54,490.56
THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM
Two geometry teachers pilot the flipped classroom, a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Video lectures are viewed by students at home before attending class, and in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. This innovative classroom uses a variety of technology to increase student interest, motivation and aptitude.
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$73,222
IGNITING A PASSION FOR STEM: THE LIBRARY MAKERSPACE
Sappington Elementary redesigns its library space to create a collaborative, technology fueled Makerspace. Included in the Makerspace is the opportunity for students to participate in problem-based learning incorporating technology projects, robotics, coding, 3-D printing and more.em description
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$70,000
STEAM INTEGRATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Using an interdisciplinary approach, this innovator uses an enhanced STEAM curriculum to immerse their students in an academic environment that prepares them for a successful future. “STEAM Team” teachers develop projects designed to incorporate multiple subject areas, and integrate technology resources.Item description
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$39,308
BRINGING ROBOTICS TO CITY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Funding from ITEF allows Saint Louis University High School to establish a Robotics lab to support their school Robotics program, and a community outreach initiative, which lets SLUH students to go into area Catholic middle schools to inspire students to explore robotics.
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$65,000
TECHNOLOGY FOR CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
A major technology upgrade increases student and staff use and access to technology learning tools, and introduction to robotics. These innovative educators raise student motivation and interest levels through active use of technology incorporating critical thinking and problem based learning.
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$56,635
STEM PROGRAMMING IN UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS
Marian Middle School sustain and strengthen its STEM programming by updating technology to increase student access to innovative tools. Graphing calculators, updated computers, and LEGO MINDSTORMS education sets are integrated into the STEM program to promote learning for the girls at Marian Middle School.
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$67,993
USING THE ARTS TO TEACH STEM
In the Ritenour School District, an ITEF grant helps transform arts education by integrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math). In this multi-grade, multi-year project, students use Apple iPads, MacBooks, LEGO® Robotics and Story Starters to increase understanding of literacy, math, engineering, robotics and computer programming while enhancing their creative thinking and understanding of the arts. Some students learn about Shakespeare and make stop-motion animations of famous scenes. Others study mythology, research a chosen character then create a digital presentation for their class. Above all, these students are fully engaged with STEAM while using art as a core.
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SHARING LOVE FOR ROBOTICS
The LHS Center for Immersive Learning (CIL) is an extracurricular activity that teaches students advanced math, engineering and science through robotics, with the help and support of mentors and faculty advisors. The CIL program is already wildly popular with LHS students: the school’s favorite “mascot” is a T-shirt throwing robot — built by students — that slings shirts to fans at home football games. Now, through the grant, the program has added 3D elements – computer modeling with high-definition visualizations, printing, digitizing and Virtual Reality immersion methods, enabling the students to do even more and succeed in robotics competitions.
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$108,723
CONNECTIVITY ON BUSES AND AT HOME
This grant connects high school students to the Internet when they are at home by providing remote access points (RAPs) that they can check out from the library. Thanks to ITEF, secondary students who lack Internet access at home can now log in on a temporary, as-needed basis. As FHSD expands its use of web-based curriculum, assessment and instruction, these access points and devices will play a critical role in student success.
The grant also allows FHSD to provide web access and devices on school buses. This maximizes learning for students, with long bus rides. Students log on to tablet computers with apps that support student literacy and numeracy skills. Partnered with their bus service provider, the tablets are checked in and out to students daily and used during the school day for intervention or extension activities. The apps on the devices are the only programs that students can access. The students are given certain tasks or assignments while classroom teachers and parents check them for completion and accuracy. Schools then use these reports to prepare lessons, view individual student achievement and more effectively meet the needs of the students.Bonus: IL will partner with River Roads Lutheran to bring robotics to underserved students.