By JAMES EVANS
Rutherford County Schools
Drone technology is all the rage these days, and Blackman High School teacher Ken Hardison wants to tap into that fever with students.
But instead of allowing students to toy-around and possibly damage expensive equipment, Hardison has a plan on how to gauge student interest in the drone field before turning them loose with an actual drone.
For his proposal, Hardison has been awarded a classroom mini-grant for $500 by the Business Education Partnership and Nissan North America. His proposal was one of 41 funded for the upcoming spring semester and announced during a breakfast ceremony at the Stones River Country Club on Friday, Dec. 8.
“Obviously drones are growing in interest so my plan is to purchase three drone simulators,” said Hardison, who named his proposal — rather humorously — “My Teacher Drones On and On, Part 1.”
The purpose of the program will be to determine if students mainly want to play with drones for fun or if there is real interest in pursuing the career aspects of drone technology, he said. If successful, the program could expand along with student interest.
“It will be a training program they use before a real drone,” said Hardison, explaining it’s similar to how real pilots must first learn on simulators.
The mini-grant program first started in 1989 at the urging of former Nissan executive Emil Hassan.
Hassan said in the seventh grade, one of his teachers demonstrated in a lab how to create electricity using magnets. Hassan was fascinated and wanted to know what types of careers would use electricity. The teacher then explained that those types of people are known as engineers, Hassan said.
“So I became an engineer,” Hassan explained. “That became the impact the teacher had on my life.”
Hassan approached educators here in the late 80s about a way to ensure local students had the same types of experiences with their teachers, which is what led to the formation of the Business Education Partnership and Nissan’s classroom mini-grant program.
Hassan has since retired from Nissan but serves as the chairman of the BEP.
BEP Executive Director Amelia Bozeman said next year, the organization will celebrate its 30th anniversary. It’s amazing, she added, because Nissan has been involved in giving back to the community long before corporate community involvement was popular.
“Nissan invested in our community through that program,” Bozeman said.
As part of the program, teachers with Rutherford County Schools and Murfreesboro City Schools are invited to submit proposals each semester. The BEP then scores those proposals and determines which will be funded.
The full list of spring 2018 Nissan mini-grant awardees follows.
|
Name |
School Name |
Name of Project |
|
Sheila Berry |
Barfield Elementary |
Eyes, and Hearts, and Brains, Oh My |
|
Christi Brownlee. Julie Stump |
Barfield Elementary |
Ready, Set, STEM! |
|
Gayle Dawson |
Blackman High School |
A Bridge of Connection |
|
Rebecca Jones |
Blackman High School |
Glow Big or Go Home! |
|
Ken Harrison |
Blackman High School |
My Teacher Drones On and On, part 1 |
|
Zach Martin |
Blackman Middle |
Here Comes the Sun |
|
Stacey Faircloth |
Brown's Chapel Elementary |
The Sensational Senses |
|
Scarlett Murphy |
Central Magnet |
Engineering In the Hizzzous |
|
Scarlett Murphy, Eve Harrison |
Central Magnet School |
Biomed Meets Engineering |
|
Marc Guthrie |
Central Magnet School |
Building for the Future |
|
Dawn Powell |
Christiana Middle School |
Student Engineers...Start Your Engines |
|
Eric Fann |
Eagleville |
"WET WILLEY" |
|
Rebecca Benson |
Kittrell Elementary |
Which Came First the Chicken or the Egg |
|
Christina Dozier, Sameria McClain, Carrie Buck, Shannon Floyd |
La Vergne Lake Elementary |
Let's Get Electrical |
|
Jeff Porter |
Oakland High School |
Deepening Student Understanding of Redox through Hands-on experience |
|
Nicole Stirbens |
Rock Springs Middle School |
Helping Hand |
|
Carol Parker |
Rockvale Middle School |
Circuit Playground |
|
Laura Martin |
Siegel High School |
Battle of the Bots in the ‘Boro |
|
Laura Martin, Jason Veal |
Siegel High School |
Fabrication of Battle Bots |
|
Riley Connolly |
Siegel High School |
Prosthetic Party |
|
Hunter Lee |
Siegel Middle School |
Busy Book for the Blind |
|
Hunter Lee |
Siegel Middle School |
Charged Up for STEM |
|
Miriam Lee |
Siegel Middle School |
Confused Compasses |
|
Katie Harris |
Siegel Middle School |
Hydraulics for STEMaholics! |
|
Mandy Franks |
Smyrna Elementary |
Amazing Ants |
|
Greg DeMario |
Smyrna Elementary School |
Take the Solar Challenge |
|
Jennifer Lodl |
Smyrna Elementary School |
Tang It Up In Math |
|
Stephanie Berger |
Smyrna High School |
Tetrahedon Kites |
|
Amanda Hodges |
Smyrna Middle School |
3D Printing: Creative Toy Engineering |
|
Jason Psutka |
Smyrna Middle School |
Circuit Scribe |
|
Meghan Vigil |
Smyrna Middle School |
Coding for Confidence |
|
Nichole Walje, Nikki DeSalvatore |
Stewarts Creek Elementary |
Ar-KID-tecture |
|
Davina Dean, Kellie Groce |
Stewarts Creek Elementary |
If I Built a Car...a STE(A)M Team Challenge |
|
Melody Todd |
Stewarts Creek Elementary |
Survival of the Fittest using STEM |
|
Kaci Allison, Andie Martin, Leah Stafford, Bethany Trainer, Sara Martin, Kelsey Dunn, Vickie Bridges, Holly May |
Stewarts Creek Elementary School |
Reuse Old News |
|
Pam Stewart |
Stewarts Creek High School |
Organ Inspection Through Rodent Dissection |
|
Pam Stewart |
Stewarts Creek High School |
Put your proteins in, take your proteins out, put your proteins in and twist them all about |
|
Kelly Sellars, Ashley Pennington, Lauren Flanagan, and Tara Babb |
Walter Hill Elementary |
Expressway to Engineering |
|
Dillon Clemons, Kristin Lorence |
Walter Hill Elementary School |
Coding Robots in 5th Grade |
|
Kaley Lea |
Walter Hill Elementary School |
STEM Stories |
|
Gina McClanahan, Leila Hinkle, Lynn Womack |
Walter Hill School |
Fractions That Make Design Sense |
|
Leigh Morris, Threasa Conley, Janice Howse |
Whitworth Buchanan Middle School |
Chemistry in Our World |
|
Diane Ranney |
Whitworth Buchanan Middle School |
Engineering BioPlastics |
|
Leigh Morris, Threasa Conley, Janice Howse |
Whitworth Buchanan Middle School |
How Attractive Can I Get? |
|
Diane Ranney |
Whitworth Buchanan Middle School |
Hydroponics Project |