Rocky Mountain Power Logo

Rocky Mountain Power announces new grants supporting education and STEAM learning programs

SALT LAKE CITY — An early, solid foundation in education – including the STEAM fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math – can benefit students and their communities for a lifetime. It’s the reason why Rocky Mountain Power is deeply committed to helping schools and organizations nurture the next generation of thinkers and doers.

As part of this commitment, the PacifiCorp Foundation, a nonprofit arm of Rocky Mountain Power, is donating $630,000 in new grant funding across the six states it serves to support education and STEAM learning projects. Some of the grants will also go to help community organizations continuing to respond to COVID-related needs. This latest round of funding is one of the four grant cycles offered by the foundation annually.

“We believe in the power of education to create a lifetime of opportunity,” said Gary Hoogeveen, president and CEO, Rocky Mountain Power. “Alongside these dedicated organizations, we’re determined to empower the next generation by creating and promoting hands-on, inclusive learning opportunities for children, teens and young adults. These curious minds will become our scientists, engineers, technicians and creators who will provide innovative solutions for the future and help guide the growth of our communities.”

The latest education and STEAM grants complement many of the ways Rocky Mountain Power and its employees are helping to foster STEAM learning in their communities throughout the year – whether launching or participating in STEAM programs and fairs, providing hands-on mentorship inside and outside classrooms, or funding virtual education opportunities to keep students connected during COVID.

The following 80 grants were given to Utah, Wyoming and Idaho organizations:

Utah

Wasatch Front

  • American Heritage of South Jordan for the purchase of tables to help improve student reading skills.
  • The Best Seat in the House for the Bringing Joy to Children during COVID-19 program, which provides events and activities to youth who, because of finances, family situation or life-altering conditions, otherwise would not have the means to do them. 
  • Blessings in a Backpack to help supply healthy weekend food for children who depend on free school meals.
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake to support the academic success youth development programs that help youth stay on grade level despite COVID-related learning loss. 
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah County for supplies to be used in STEAM classes and activities.
  • City of Orem to purchase books for the Reading with Police program that helps third-grade students improve reading skills.
  • English Skills Learning Center to expand the emergent reader program for adults. 
  • Fathers and Families Coalition of Utah for the Jobs Work program that helps students learn critical job skills and provides paid internships and job search assistance. 
  • Fourth Street Clinic for additional staff and equipment for COVID response. 
  • Friends of the Children Utah to support hands-on STEAM activities for at-risk youth and their mentors. 
  • Girl Scouts of Utah for the outreach program that provides fully subsidized troops in low-income neighborhoods and COVID-safe, at-home activities.
  • Granite Education Foundation for backpacks and school supplies for low-income students, many of whom are refugees.
  • Guadalupe School for support of the Early Learning Center programs, including in-home, toddler and preschool, that help low-income families and English-language learners. 
  • Guadalupe School to add more trained interventionists who work intensely with students needing extra academic support during summer school.
  • Jordan Education Foundation for the classroom grants program that funds special classroom projects that enrich standard curriculum.  
  • Junior Achievement of Salt Lake County for sponsorship of the Junior Achievement City Storefront and BizTown programs.
  • Junior Achievement of Utah County for in-class Junior Achievement programs for K-6 students.
  • Salt Lake Community College Foundation for scholarships to help more students attend college.
  • Uintah Basin Applied Technology College Foundation for scholarship support to help low-income and rural students complete training.
  • University of Utah for tuition and research stipends for students involved in the ACCESS Program for women in STEM programs. 
  • University of Utah to support the PBS Kids 24/7 early-learning program that improves literacy and STEAM learning and encourages parental involvement in learning.  
  • University of Utah for the Natural History Museum Teen Explainers program.
  • University of Utah to help KUER public radio produce multimedia, local government reporting and podcast initiatives.
  • University of Utah for Rocky Mountain Power Foundation scholarships for students in the Opportunity Scholars program that supports under-represented students at the David Eccles School of Business.
  • University of Utah for Rocky Mountain Power Scholarships in the College of Mines and Earth Sciences to support students pursuing STEM degrees. 
  • University of Utah to expand the work of education pathways partnerships at the UNP Hartland Partnership Center.
  • Utah Valley University Foundation to help at-risk fifth-grade students reading comprehension by providing virtual reality experiences related to classroom topics, such as history, culture and the environment.
  • Utah Valley University Foundation for equipment needed to enable Web Design and Development degree students to complete capstone experiences and be better prepared for the workplace. 
  • Westminster College Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to support the Bastian Diversity Lecture Series for the 2021-2022 academic year. 
  • WGU Academy for scholarships to help underserved students advance their education and careers.
  • WHOlives for a service learning empathy development course that helps students develop both STEAM skills and empathy as they learn how many African families struggle to collect drinking water.
  • Youthlinc to support the Real Life program that provides after-school tutoring and life-skills peer mentoring to teens with refugee or immigrant status.

Northern Utah

  • Box Elder Community Pantry to help alleviate hunger in Box Elder County.
  • Davis Technical College Foundation for scholarships to ensure low-to-moderate income students can complete their degrees and improve their job prospects.
  • Farmington High School for construction of an indoor aviary so students can study raptors up close as part of the school’s ornithology program. 
  • Friends of the Weber/Morgan Children’s Justice Center to provide support for child abuse victims. 
  • Ogden-Weber Technology College Foundation for scholarships for students studying STEAM-related fields.
  • Open Doors to expand their Circles peer-mentoring program that helps low-income families break down poverty barriers. 
  • United Way of Northern Utah to support tutoring for K-6 students who are struggling in reading.
  • Weber State University to provide scholarship support for electrical engineering students.
  • Weber State University to support WSU PREP, a STEAM camp for students in Grade 7.
  • Shropshire Music Foundation for the Frontline Healthcare Workers Program that shares the healing power of music with nurses and other healthcare workers who are suffering emotionally and physically from treating the overwhelming numbers of COVID patients.

Park City

  • The Literacy Project to support the Utah Reading Initiative to help second grade students read at grade-level, narrow the literacy gap and create lifelong learners. 
  • Park City Community Foundation to partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and mail age-appropriate books monthly to children from birth to age five in the Park City area.
  • Park City Tots to subsidize childcare tuition of low-income workforce families in Summit County. 

Cache Valley

  • Utah State University College of Engineering for engineering undergraduate scholarships.
  • Utah State University Extension to support F-H career exploration field trips and 4H project day camps for youth in Tooele County.

Southern Utah

  • Grand County School District for afterschool and mentoring support for students.
  • Green River PACT to support Pyramid Summer programs for youth, including day camps, and hiking and camping trips.
  • Snow College Foundation for scholarships to help first-generation, low-income STEAM students.
  • Southern Utah University for FIRST Tech challenge build kits for students 12 to 18 and STEM learning kits for K-12 teachers.
  • Southern Utah University for Rocky Mountain Power Foundation first-generation scholarships. 
  • Southwest Technical College for scholarships to support students studying technical fields. 

Wyoming

Eastern Wyoming

  • Ark Regional Services for improving literacy in adults with developmental disabilities to open opportunities for employment, independence and community contribution.
  • CyberWyoming Alliance to support the cyber-in-a-box school video challenge, which helps students learn about cybersecurity. 
  • Raising Readers in Wyoming for the purchase of books for children ages 2 months to 5 years to create a solid foundation for learning to read.
  • University of Wyoming Foundation for scholarships, art museum education, community outreach and other programs benefiting students and faculty as well as youth and citizens of Wyoming. 
  • Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom for the Wyoming Stewardship Project that engages students in real-world learning through the lenses of agriculture, minerals and energy, and outdoor recreation and tourism. 

Western Wyoming

  • Apple Valley School to provide professional development opportunities for two native teachers.
  • Boy Scouts of America Crossroads of the West Council to establish Cub Scout Packs and Scouts BSA Troops, which declined during COVID.
  • Central Wyoming Community College Foundation for BIKES (Broadening Inclusion Knowledge & Experience in Science), an expedition science project for underrepresented students, which will involve scientific research design and other subjects on a 1,500-mile bike journey.
  • Children’s Discovery Center to ensure quality, affordable, full-time summer childcare at the only non-profit preschool in Sublette County that is open year-round.
  • Cody Regional Health Foundation to ensure quality healthcare by funding emergency nurse certification for emergency room nurses.
  • Disability: IN Unita County for the NextGen mentoring program that helps youth with disabilities obtain the knowledge, direction and social skills to pursue secondary education and/or successful careers. 
  • Girls Scouts of Montana and Wyoming to help increase access to STEAM learning opportunities for girls K-12 through the creation of a mobile STEAM learning center that will deliver hands-on curriculum options.
  • Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain to support the Junior Achievement curriculum to help K-12 students prepare for the real world, making the connection between academics and professional success.
  • Lander Children’s Museum to help construct and equip a Think-Make-Create STEM Mobile Maker Lab. 
  • Northwest College Foundation for the Rocky Mountain Power scholarship to help provide affordable education to engineering students.
  • Pinedale Preschool for gardening supplies to provide students with hands-on STEM experiences in their new greenhouse.
  • Promoting Arts in Lander Schools (PALS) to purchase materials and bring guest artists into classrooms to provide access to dynamic arts education for all Fremont County students. 
  • Shoshoni Senior Center to upgrade computers to help the center serve clients more efficiently. 
  • Sweetwater County School District #1 to provide iPad minis for use in the Head Start early childhood program, which can be used in the classroom or remotely as needed. 
  • Unita BOCES 1 Foundation for instruction and assistance for participants in literacy instruction, high school equivalency preparation and employment training. 
  • Wyoming PBS Foundation for production of “Witnesses to a Changing West: The Golden Eagles of Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin,” a documentary film that makes the case for golden eagle conservation. 

Idaho

  • College of Eastern Idaho Foundation to provide cyber and technology scholarships to help adult learners gain new skills for increased career opportunities.  
  • Idaho Home Learning Academy/Oneida School District for purchase of subscriptions to Nearpod, an online teaching tool that helps virtual and classroom teachers teach to Idaho State Standards.
  • Idaho STEM Action Center Foundation to provide rural k-12 educators with STEM classroom kits at i-STEM professional development institutes held at the College of Eastern Idaho and Idaho State University. 
  • Junior Achievement of Idaho for financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurship programs in K-6 grade classrooms.
  • Oneida Education Foundation for installing a greenhouse at Malad High School to provide a hands-on laboratory where students can learn about horticulture, gardening, soil science and other agriculture-related topics. 
  • Sugar-Salem High School for the purchase of two digital telescopes that will strengthen STEAM offerings by improving space-viewing opportunities for high school astronomy students.