CRANE, Ind. -- Representatives of Crane Army Ammunition Activity visited Clear Creek Elementary School, Bloomington, Indiana, May 16, 2014 to view student projects supported by the CAAA Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program.
Through the STEM program that is funded by the National Defense Education Program, CAAA provided $40,000 to the school to purchase Lego sets, catapult kits, air-powered dragsters, science learning centers and materials for marine ecosystem and hydrogeology projects.
Crane Army Resource Management Director and STEM Program Manager Deborah DeLaney visited with the students and reviewed their individual projects. "One student told me he wanted to be an engineer and he was so excited to create a hands-on project that really worked," said DeLaney. "He told me he wanted to work for CAAA someday."
"This project has helped us learn to apply math and comprehension to everyday skills," said Reed, a sixth grader at Clear Creek. "We have also learned to work as a team."
"We now have more opportunities to learn about force, elasticity, and speed," said Callum, another sixth grader. "Thank you for giving us these opportunities to improve our learning."
Benefitting an estimated 30,000 students in the southern Indiana region over the past three years, Crane Army's STEM program has allowed schools and other youth-oriented groups a chance to reach more children through the provision of materials and STEM related activities.
"The learning that has taken place has been phenomenal, especially the hands-on activities that we've been able to do with the resources and money that the STEM program has provided," said Debra Prenkert, the principal of Clear Creek.
Established October 1977, Crane Army Ammunition Activity maintains ordnance professionals and infrastructure in order to receive, store, ship, produce, renovate and demilitarize conventional ammunition, missiles and related components. Crane Army maintains up to one third of the DoD's conventional ammunition inventory. The Activity also provides command oversight of Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Letterkenny Munitions Center, Pennsylvania, and Milan Army Ammunition Plant, Tennessee.
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