OKLAHOMA CITY – Twenty-one FFA chapters across Oklahoma are receiving a share of $40,000 in American Electric Power Foundation FFA STEM After-School Grants. Four FFA chapters in southwest Oklahoma received grants totaling $8,349.
Snyder’s FFA received a $1,349 STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) grant from AEP, the parent company of Tulsa-based electricity provider Public Service Co. of Oklahoma.
The Fletcher FFA chapter received a $2,000 STEM grant that will be used to “introduce students to the electrical field as a possible career path,” according to adviser Kashen Urban. The funds will be used to purchase tools, personal protective equipment, and supplies required for proper electrical training. Students will be taught how to safely and properly run and wire electrical terminals and circuits, according to the chapter’s grant application.
The Hobart FFA will use its $2,500 grant for an after-school program for students, Hobart Ag Science Instructor Makaylan Brooks said.
“With our grant we will purchase hydroponic systems, growth tables, lights, and more. With these tools we will be able to teach students how to grow their own food, develop more responsibilities, and give them more of a reason to come to the ag room after school.”
The Fort Cobb FFA chapter also received an AEP STEM grants of $2,500.
Brent Ervin, the Snyder FFA chapter’s agriculture education instructor, said their funds will be used to buy a sonogram machine for animal husbandry. A sonogram produces an image by ultrasound.
The grant will pay for a sonogram machine to use on livestock. “We’ll check female animals for pregnancy,” he said. “The machine we’ll order will be used on cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and maybe some small animals such as dogs.”
Students will employ the machine in the field for “hands-on” experience with their livestock projects, Ervin said, and it also can be used in the classroom to make predictions. “And if we get proficient, we might be able to let the kids hire out to provide a service, as a fundraiser for our chapter,” he said.
“We hope to certify our kids, so if they go to work in the livestock industry they’ll already be familiar with this product,” Ervin said.
The Snyder chapter intends to share the sonogram equipment with the Frederick FFA and its adviser, Grant Eaton.
Snyder FFA won’t buy the sonogram unit “until we have the check in hand,” Ervin said on Aug. 4. The grant will cover entire cost of the machine, he said.
Snyder’s FFA also received a $15,000 grant from the state Department of Career and Technology Education this year, which paid for a CNC plasma computer-operated cutting table. Ervin said it will be used to cut students’ artwork projects and to make metal parts.
CNC plasma cutting refers to cutting metals using a plasma torch controlled from a computer. Plasma cutters operate by forcing a gas or compressed air at high speeds through a nozzle. Once an electric arc is introduced to the gas, ionized gas or plasma is created; it, in turn, cuts through the metal. A CNC plasma cutter or CNC plasma cutting machine is used primarily for slicing through carbon steel, metal, steel and steel tube that has a thickness of 0-50mm and stainless steel with a thickness of 0-20mm.
The CareerTech grant to Snyder’s FFA was derived from the proceeds of Oklahoma’s lottery.
Snyder FFA has approximately 55 students a year, Erwin said. The chapter will participate in six to seven fairs and livestock shows this summer and fall, he said, starting at Gotebo-Mountain View and concluding with the Tulsa State Fair in October. In addition, some Snyder FFA students probably will compete in livestock shows at the Oklahoma City State Fair in September.
AEP Foundation grants provide students with an opportunity to learn and grow in STEM-related fields. This year’s grants will underwrite projects in beekeeping, drones in agriculture, and an artificial intelligence cattle simulator.
Grants ranging from $825 to $2,500, were awarded to FFA chapters in Atoka, Barnsdall, Caney Valley, Clayton, Dewey, Hammon, Ketchum, Kiowa/Savanna, Oologah/Inola, Quinton, Soper, Stigler, Wapanucka and Wister, as well as Snyder/Frederick, Fletcher, Hobart and Fort Cobb.
Priority was given to applications that will benefit more than one chapter and will be sustainable over multiple years.
“This partnership with FFA will bring meaningful, hands-on STEM programs to Oklahoma students,” said PSO Vice President of External Affairs Tiffini Jackson. “These grants emphasize real-world skills that can help propel these students into a rewarding future.”
Since 2018 the AEP Foundation and PSO have awarded grants totaling more than $173,000 to FFA chapters to fund a wide range of programs and activities that are helping advance agricultural education, foster innovation and inspire success.
“STEM education is critical to our future, and this program brings essential resources to young Oklahomans who otherwise might have seen this technology only on a computer screen or read about it in a book,” said Jacey Fye, Oklahoma FFA Foundation executive director.
PSO serves more than 562,000 customer accounts in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma.