STEDTRAIN
We put a man on the moon.
Help our children reach the stars.

STEDTRAIN 2018-19 Grant Year Report

Mission and History

STEDTRAIN is a Committee of the The Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS) that administers a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Seed Grant program that provides Type I and Type II Grant funding of $250 to $1000 and $1500 to $2500 respectively to an educator for innovative hands-on classroom projects that will stimulate children's interest in science and technology.

Since the Program began in 1988, it has distributed over $578,796 for 571 individual grants and other worthy educational projects. The grants currently benefit approximately 10,000 students directly and about 20,000 indirectly a year.

The STEDTRAIN program covers Limestone, Madison, Jackson, Morgan and Marshall Counties in Alabama and Lincoln County in Tennessee.

HATS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization supporting Huntsville area technical and professional societies dedicated to the advancement of science and engineering. Founded on June 17, 1969, HATS has grown from seven charter societies to the current organizations representing more than 18,000 individuals. The STEDTRAIN Committee encourages the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technical professionals within our community. We put a man on the moon. Help our children reach the stars.

HATS is grateful to many of its Member societies, corporate, and individual donors for their support. The economic situation of the past few years has substantially increased the number of grant applications received. The increase has required funding substantially beyond what was previously possible.

Charity Navigator, the nation's largest and most-used charity evaluator, has assigned HATS an Encompass Rating of 100 out of 100.

View HATS Rating on Charity Navigator

Federal EIN: 23-7070415
Alabama Solicitation License: AL21-068

Key Personnel

Calendar

The STEDTRAIN Seed Grant cycle is 15 months long beginning on February 1st and ending on April 30th of the following year. It is built around the school year and allows for collecting and evaluating proposals and then awarding and executing grants. This causes a three month overlap with the calendar year. To eliminate confusion from these overlapping cycles, this report will focus on one complete Seed Grant cycle.

In the year the Seed Grant is awarded:
Request for Proposals begins	February 1st
Deadline for proposals submission	April 1st before midnight
Deadline for principals to accept proposals	April 3rd before midnight
Deadline to notify STEDTRAIN of problems	April 15th before midnight
Awards published and notices sent	On or about August 5th
Deadline to accept awards	15 days after notification
Deadline to verify award ceremony attendance	4 days before the ceremony
Award Ceremony	Usually the last Saturday in August except Labor Day Weekend,
In the year following the Seed Grant award:
Midterm reports due	January 20th before midnight
Final reports due	Thursday at noon before presentations
Final presentations	Usually the last Saturday in April

Proposals Statistics

HATS rules prohibit STEDTRAIN taking money from other HATS programs, so STEDTRAIN funds as many acceptable proposals as possible each year without running a deficit. Some proposals do not qualify for funding and are not funded for cause. There can be proposals that were deemed to be acceptable that are not funded because of a lack of funds.

Submitted	20
Funded	12
Not funded for lack of funds	5
Not funded for cause	3
Funding Shortfall	$8,977

Selected Proposal Abstracts

Buckhorn Middle School (Madison County, Alabama)
Ms. Gina Henshaw
PLTW Supplies for AR and MD
Project Lead the Way is a course where students will learn the engineering design process through investigation, real-life problem solving, and unique hands-on experiences. It will facilitate growth in math and science as well as advance our students in the field of STEM. The addition of these extra supplies will enable more students to create hands on engineering projects within smaller groups. The reality is that we have had to add more students into our PLTW program classes which in turn results in the need for more supplies.

Boaz Elementary School (Marshall County, Alabama)
Mrs. Cynthia Lancaster
Lil' Monthly Makers
Each month students will have the opportunity to systematically explore a new hands-on STEM activity in the library. The recent STEM and Maker Movement go hand in hand with the natural inclinations of young children and the power of learning by doing. This early exposure will begin students on a path of discovery, exploration, and reflection. Students will be challenged to expand their imaginations and reasoning skills while preparing them for their future education and ultimately a profession in a world of expanding technology and research.

Limestone County Career Technical Center (Limestone County, Alabama)
Mrs. Pam Fowler
SKYROCKETS FLL Robotics
The SKYROCKETS FLL team are hoping to elevate the interest in robotics in area schools. By using the Lego Kit building materials and kits and references to increase knowledge, the Skyrockets plan to enter competitions and offer demonstrations to show other teachers and students the possibilities in learning and future career opportunities through STEM and JLL Robotics.

A complete list of funded proposals and abstracts can be found on our website at /showpage.php?pageId=84&gy=1819

Selected Final Reports

At the end of each Seed Grant cycle, the teachers participate in a conference that is intended to facilitate networking and the sharing of ideas for future STEM education projects. The teachers prepare a tri-fold display and are encouraged to bring in hardware and other examples of their project. They also prepare a final report in Microsoft PowerPoint format and a single overview slide. The overview slides are compiled into a single presentation that runs on a timed loop that is display during the networking period. The following are selected examples of the overview slides.

Impact on the Community

As part of the final report process, teachers report on the participation in their projects. This includes teachers and students who directly participate in the project and teachers and students who are exposed to the project through demonstrations and presentations. Teachers are encouraged to collaborate with other schools, and to bring in external advisors from the area's techical community. The following table summarizes the teachers input for this Seed Grant cycle.

Involvement	Teacher's School	Other Schools	Total Involvement
Number of students involved	901	435	1336
Number of teachers involved	22	12	34
Number of classes involved	54	24	78
Number of external advisors involved	16	10	26

Donors

Thanks to the following companies, corporations, institutions, and individuals who contributed generously to the HATS STEDTRAIN program.

• IEEE, Huntsville Section
• Andy Setlow (In Honor of Jim Frank)
  Boeing Company Gift Match Program
• Space and Missile Defense Working Group of the
  National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA),
  Tennessee Valley Chapter
• DMS Technology, Inc.
• First Baptist, Huntsville
• Hackett Science & Technology Applications Company
• Woody Williams

Financial Report

As a small organization with less than $50k in annual revenue, HATS files an annual IRS form 990N. The financial information included in the 990N report may not be sufficiently detailed for some potential donors considering making donations to the HATS STEDTRAIN Seed Grant program, so we provide the following financial report.

Other sources of income include interest on the savings account, PayPal donations, Amazon Smile, and Facebook fundraisers.

Income
Rollover from previous Grant Year	3622.65
HATS	0.00
Donations from HATS members	16,000.00
Outside donations	3,250.00
Grants	0.00
Other sources	5.31
Total Income	22,877.96

Expenses
Grants to Educators	22,765.40
Prizes and special awards	300.00
Event costs	137.83
Website and Communications	70.00
Admin	0.00
Rollover to next Grant Year	-395.27
Total Expenses	22,877.96

 

The Program Expense Ratio is a number that tells how much of an organization's funding went toward the stated mission of the organization. It is defined as the ratio of Program Expenses (how much was spent on the mission) to Total Expenses.

The STEDTRAIN Program Expense Ratio for this cycle is 99.1070%.

Contact Information

Email us at admin@stedtrain.org

Telephone Contacts:
Woody Williams	256.837.5172
Ron Hackett	931.438.3298