Capito Announces CDS Award to Strengthen STEM Education in Raleigh County – Shelley Moore Capito

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that West Virginia University (WVU) will receive $227,963 through a Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) request she made. This CDS award will support the use of telepresence robots to strengthen STEM education and support STEM educators in Raleigh County schools.

In total, Senator Capito secured $241,135,000 in direct spending measures for initiatives and projects across West Virginia through the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations omnibus package.

“Emphasizing the importance of STEM education to our state’s youth and ensuring those engaged in these fields have the opportunity to be successful is something I have focused on in the Senate,” Senator Capito said. “Leaders from WVU and Raleigh County stressed the potential impact this initiative could have in rural schools across West Virginia, which is why I advocated for this funding through my role on the Senate Appropriations Committee during the Congressionally Directed Spending process. I look forward to seeing the opportunities created by this program, as well as the example it can set for furthering STEM education across the Mountain State.”

“We are very excited to engage in the work that this CDS will make possible. STEM education is vital to changing economic outcomes for our students, and the use of telepresence robots to support STEM teachers in remotely located rural K-12 schools will allow more students to have access to high quality preparation,” Gay Stewart, Director of the WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education, said.

“We hope to improve equality in education and promote hands-on learning of electronics and computer programming through allowing expert teachers to remotely reach a large number of students in rural schools using new technology such as tele-presence robots,” Yu Gu, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said. 

# # #