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Entergy Charitable Foundation Supports Mississippi College STEM Institute


Entergy officials awarded a $5,000 grant on June 20 to leaders of Mississippi College's STEM Institute. Pictured: MC School of Education Dean Cindy Melton, Debra Raddin, who heads the STEM Institute on the Clinton campus and Robert Logan, an Entergy customer service representative.

Mississippi College’s STEM Institute leaders are delighted to receive a $5,000 grant from the Entergy Charitable Foundation.

Part of the MC School of Education, the Institute was launched in 2015. Its leaders seek to forge partnerships on the Clinton campus with schools and businesses across the Magnolia State.

“We are very grateful for the role Entergy is playing in promoting STEM education in our state,” said School of Education Dean Cindy Melton.

Receiving the grant from Entergy customer service representative Robert Logan on June 20 strengthens the longstanding relationship between Mississippi College and the power company.

“We believe that community partnerships are integral for effective and impactful learning,” Melton said. “Entergy continues to demonstrate that they are willing to step out and make a difference.”

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. MC seeks to equip students with the skills to advance in a world that’s seeing rapid changes in technology. “U.S. News & World Report” estimates there will be more than 1.2 million unfilled jobs across the USA in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by 2018.

Debra Raddin, the STEM institute director, says the Entergy Charitable Foundation grant will be put to good use.

The funds will pay for a program that supports teacher professional development through STEM education endorsement/certification, Raddin said. It will include an MC STEM Institute Innovation Day. Educators and other leaders will be invited to the university to explore problem solving and tackle global issues.

Each year, the Entergy Corporation and Entergy Charitable Foundation supply $19 million in grants to nearly 3,000 non-profits in communities where its customers live. The region includes Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. The foundation assists educational and literacy initiatives, among others, to support healthy, thriving communities.

A grant from the Mississippi-based Hearin Foundation led to the birth of the Mississippi College STEM Institute a couple of years ago.