Villawood North Public School primary teacher Thuy Nguyen, has been named the national winner of the 2019 OfficeMax and Winc Australia STEAM Grants Program.
A smart algorithm called Grant Bot helped judge the winners, alongside Swinburne University astrophysicist associate professor Alan Duffy and marine biologist Dr Vanessa Pirotta.
Located in Sydney, Villawood educates a richly diverse student community with 90 per cent of students having a language background other than English.
This year the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics)Grants Program attracted over 1600 entrants, with Ms Nguyen coming out on top. The annual program aims to provide support to schools with resources and funding to integrate STEAM learning. As well as a $5000 grant awarded for being the NSW state winner, Ms Nguyen has also won an additional $10,000 for her school.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be announced the national winner of the Grants Program. Our students are passionate about learning about science and using technology to help them learn, and the grant money will allow us to purchase more products to help grow their STEAM learning,” she said.
“We have just formed a STEAM committee and we look forward to making decisions on how to make the most of the grant to benefit every student in our school. It will be really exciting to find STEAM projects that are authentic and meaningful to our school community.”
Chief executive officer at Winc Australia Darren Fullerton said the response to the STEAM Grant Bot Program was impressive. “We were blown away by the response we’ve seen from teachers and schools alike. The level of interest in creating more opportunities to integrate STEAM-based learning to help future generations think critically and flexibly to adapt to our rapidly evolving environment is growing year on year.”
He added, “Thuy displayed a true passion for STEAM and she is set to prepare our next generation with the requirements needed to develop a promising career.”
As national winner, Ms Nguyen will be awarded $15,000. All other state winners receive $5000 for their school to spend on their choice of STEAM teaching equipment and resources from OfficeMax and Winc to help drive STEAM learning.
For more information about the STEAM Grants Program, please click here.