The Technology Association of Georgia and the TAG Education Collaborative announced the finalists for the fifth annual STEM Education awards.  These awards were created to recognize and celebrate schools, extracurricular programs, public-private partnerships, science agencies and post-secondary education outreach programs for outstanding efforts and achievement in supporting and promoting science, technology, engineering, and math education in Georgia.

“We applaud each of this year’s finalists for their extraordinary efforts to bolster awareness about the importance of STEM and for their hard work to increase student participation in science, technology, engineering and math programs,” said Michael Robertson, director of TAG-Ed. “Georgia will need to fill some 211,000 STEM-related jobs by 2018, so we are pleased to showcase so many great schools, programs and organizations that are helping to develop a strong future workforce for our state. ”

Finalists from Hinesville and Statesboro were among those named for the 2016 awards:

Elementary School

·        Canton ES STEM Academy - Canton, GA

·        River Eves Elementary - Roswell GA

·        Samuel E. Hubbard Elementary School - Forsyth, GA

·        Whitlow Elementary - Cumming, GA

·        Woodland Elementary School - Sandy Springs, GA
 
Middle School

·        Amana Academy - Alpharetta, GA

·        Fulton Science Academy Private School - Alpharetta, GA

·        J.C. Booth Middle School – Peachtree City, GA

·        Living Science Home Studies – Woodstock, GA

·        Valdosta Middle School STEM Academy – Valdosta, GA
 
High School

·        Darlington School – Rome, GA

·        Forsyth County Schools – Forsyth, GA

·        Living Science Home Studies – Woodstock, GA

·        Peachtree Ridge High School – Suwanee, GA

·        Westlake High School – Atlanta, GA
 
Post-Secondary & Corporate Outreach

·        Cisco Systems, Inc.

·        Crescerance

·        State Farm Insurance

·        Technical Women in Georgia Employee Resource Group

·        The University of Georgia, The College of Engineering
 
Extracurricular Program

·        Feldwood Elementary STEM – College Park, GA

·        FSAPS Extracurricular Academic Teams - "Full Steam Ahead" – Alpharetta, GA

·        Marietta City Schools Pre-Engineering Pipeline – Marietta, GA

·        SECME – Statesboro, GA

·        STE(A)M Truck – Decatur, GA

·        Sumo Robot League – Augusta, GA

·        Walton Robotics Team – Marietta, GA
 
STEM Day Activity

·        Brookwood School – Dalton, GA

·        Eagle Springs Elementary – Byron, GA

·        Henderson Mill Elementary School – Atlanta, GA

·        Kedron Elementary – Peachtree City, GA

·        Odom Elementary – Moultrie, GA

·        M H Mason Elementary School – Duluth, GA

·        Paulding County High School – Dallas, GA

·        Snelson-Golden Middle School – Hinesville, GA

·        Woodland Elementary School – Atlanta, GA
 
STEM Certified School Outreach

·        Clark Creek Elementary STEM Academy – Acworth, GA

·        Elm Street Elementary – Rome, GA

·        Ford Elementary – Acworth, GA

·        Lithia Springs High School – Lithia Springs, GA

·        Northside Elementary School – Warner Robbins, GA

·        Tucker Middle School – Tucker, GA

·        White Oak Elementary – Sugar Hill, GA
 
“We received more than 180 nominations for our inaugural STEM Education Awards,” stated Amanda Hendley, Chief Operating Officer for TAG. “We are very pleased with the number and quality of all of our applicants. These finalists represent the best of the best in STEM education.”
 
Winners will be announced during a special, half-day event on November 4th at the Loudermilk Center in Atlanta.