FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Dec. 2, 2016 – Public voting to determine the finalists in the second year of the Northrop Grumman Foundation’s Fab School Labs contest will run from Monday, Dec. 5 to Friday, Dec. 9. With the support of their local communities and the public, a week-long online voting campaign will commence to give the 25 semifinalist schools an opportunity to make their dreams of a state-of-the-art STEM lab a reality with one of five available grants of up to $100,000 each.

To help determine the final five winning school grant recipients, the semifinalist schools will engage the public’s help via an online voting campaign hosted on the Fab School Labs Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FabSchoolLabs beginning Dec. 5. Once all of the online votes have been cast, a final selection process will be conducted by the Fab School Labs’ panel of judges to determine the top five grant recipients. The winning schools will then work with a design and scientific equipment supplier to help create their Fab School Lab and identify new tools, resources and furnishings.  

The schedule for online voting and Fab School Labs contest semifinalist schools, which hail from 17 states, are as follows:

Voting Day One – Monday, Dec. 5

National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM Middle School – Akron, Ohio

Oak Valley Middle School – Commerce Township, Michigan

South Harrison Middle School – Lost Creek, West Virginia

South Oldham Middle School – Crestwood, Kentucky

UP Academy Leonard – Lawrence, Massachusetts

Voting Day Two – Tuesday, Dec. 6

Cottonwood Valley Charter– Socorro, New Mexico.

Green Woods Charter School – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Kiser Elementary – Gila Bend, Arizona

Morton School of Science – Chicago, Illinois

Northeast Middle School – Clarksville, Tennessee

Voting Day Three – Wednesday, Dec.7

Connellsville Area Middle School – Connellsville, Pennsylvania

Downtown College Prep Alum Rock Middle School – San Jose, California

Mountain View Preparatory School – Cottonwood, Arizona

Salisbury Middle School – Salisbury, Maryland

Wiley H. Bates Middle School – Annapolis, Maryland

Voting Day Four – Thursday, Dec. 8

Bluegrass Middle School – Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Del Dios Academy of Arts and Sciences – Escondido, California

International Technology Academy – Pontiac, Michigan

Lakeland Elementary Middle School – Baltimore, Maryland

Princess Anne Middle School – Virginia Beach, Virginia

Voting Day Five – Friday, Dec. 9

Beverlye Magnet School – Dothan, Alabama

Consuelo Mendez Middle School – Austin, Texas

Deerfield Beach Middle School – Deerfield Beach, Florida

Harriet Tubman Village Charter School – San Diego, California

William James Middle School – Statesboro, Georgia

Nearly 200 schools participated in the contest submitting videos, photos and sharing their school’s vision and need for a state-of-the-art science lab. The contest, which was announced earlier this year during one of National Science Teachers Association’s five annual conferences, invited teachers, principals and school administrators to tell their school’s story through video, photos, and a brief essay. The top 25 semifinalist schools were chosen based on a scoring system that included existing classroom/lab resources, level of need, students impacted, feasibility of upgrades and plans proposed, and meeting the contest eligibility requirements and entry criteria.

To learn more about the Fab School Labs contest, visit www.FabSchoolLabs.com.

About Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation

Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation are committed to expanding and enhancing the pipeline of diverse, talented STEM students globally. They provide funding to sustainable STEM programs that span from preschool to high school and through collegiate levels, with a major emphasis on middle school students and teachers. In 2015, Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation continued outreach efforts by contributing more than $17 million to diverse STEM-related groups such as the Air Force Association (CyberPatriot), the REC Foundation (VEX Robotics), National Science Teachers Association, and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. For more information, please visit www.northropgrumman.com/foundation.

Last Call for Submissions for the Northrop Grumman Foundation's 2016 Fab School Labs Makeover Contest