University Receives $130,000 Grant From Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Funds will support STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) projects in Paterson schools focusing on work with the Great Falls Falls National Historical Park

--Grant continues support for collaboration with Paterson Public Schools that promotes interrelationships between arts and sciences

William Paterson University has received a $130,000 grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to continue a project in the Paterson Public Schools that promotes the interrelationships among disciplines in the arts and sciences. The new grant builds on previous grants from the Dodge Foundation of $75,000 and $125,000 that were used to implement the project that incorporates science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics, known as STEAM.

"Along with our school partners, we are excited to receive our third year of support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation for STEAM-related curricula in our partner schools,” says Candace Burns, dean, College of Education. “Thanks to the Dodge Foundation, student-integrated arts/science/mathematics projects are featured throughout our partner schools.”

In 2012, the University received a $75,000 grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to develop a pilot program in two Paterson public schools integrating the arts and creative thinking with academic achievement in math and science.  The grant included funding for two professors in residence, who have expertise in art, who were placed in Paterson School No. 2 and School No. 7 for the 2012-13 school year.  In addition, the grant provided funding for faculty in the University’s College of Education, College of the Arts and Communication, and College of Science and Health to collaborate and work with teachers and principals in the two Paterson schools to develop curriculum in which art activities are meaningfully interrelated with math and science. The University received a second grant of $125,000 to continue the work of the STEAM projects in the 2013-14 school year. A third professor in residence was added, as were two Paterson high schools, the School of Government and the School of Information Technology.

This new $130,000 grant expands the STEAM concept to schools in the greater community, and will provide an opportunity to deepen connections among the schools, the City of Paterson, and the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. Teachers in selected Paterson Public Schools, in collaboration with professors in residence from the University, will develop and implement STEAM unit/lesson plans that encompass science, technology, engineering, math, and art. Inspired by the history of the City of Paterson, these unit/lesson plans will integrate 21st century concepts. The resulting student projects will showcase the work of the students and teachers of the Paterson Public Schools, the STEAM legacy of the City of Paterson, and the significance of the Great Falls.

William Paterson University, one of New Jersey’s leading public universities, offers more than 250 undergraduate and graduate academic programs through five colleges: Arts and Communication, Cotsakos College of Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Located on 370 hilltop acres in Wayne, the university enrolls more than 11,400 students and provides housing for nearly 2,700 students. The institution’s 399 full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, many of whom are recipients of prestigious awards and grants from the Fulbright Program, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.