South Orangetown Middle School technology teacher Lou Chugranis was awarded an Orange & Rockland 2020-21 Classroom STEM Grant totaling nearly $1,000 during a virtual ceremony on October 21. It is the second consecutive year that Chugranis has secured funding support for hands-on projects through O&R’s Classroom STEM Grant program.
“My students and I plan to make lamps using the common eight-foot-long 2’ x 4’ and LEDs,” he explains. “The concept for this project has its genesis in the ‘2’ x 4’ challenge,’ which I was introduced to as a sophomore in Professor George Hascup’s furniture design studio at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning.”
Through this hands-on project, students will learn about renewable resources and electricity and sustainable methods of electrical production. They will use computer-aided design software to develop lamp concepts, hand and power tools for fabrication, and the school’s CNC laser engraver to customize designs.
“We are proud that Mr. Chugranis was awarded an Orange & Rockland Classroom STEM Grant for a second consecutive year!” says SOMS Principal Chad Corey, Ed.D. “This funding will provide our students with first-hand experience with the science, technology, engineering and math behind renewable design.”
