Crowley’s Ridge College to receive $662,333 grant from Mabee Foundation

Crowley’s Ridge College is poised to receive a generous $662,333 grant gift from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation. This grant will go toward construction of the state-of-the-art Chemistry building and Lift Station as listed in CRC’s Mission Possible Campaign. The building will feature a brand new modern chemistry lab, research area, classrooms, and offices.  The older Physical Science building will be renovated, including a new roof and matching exterior siding to blend with the new Chemistry building and make for a more vibrant campus with better resources to serve our students and new degree programs.

The total cost for this ambitious and needed project is estimated at $3,311,667, and the Mabee Challenge Grant is conditional upon CRC raising the additional $1,071,204 it needs to fully fund the project.

“While we have some work to do in order to receive their $662,333 challenge grant, I am confident CRC will rise to the challenge. We have tremendous donors, alumni, and a fantastic community, who no doubt will rise to the challenge and help us raise the additional $1,071,204 by July 11, 2024, required by the Mabee Foundation in order for the College to receive this very generous grant gift,” said Dr. Richard Johnson, CRC President. “This will be the largest grant from a foundation in our history and I cannot think of a better partner than the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation.”

The Mabee Foundation, headquartered in Midland, Texas has helped fund new construction, building renovations and the purchase of major medical equipment for non-profit organizations in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri and Kansas since 1948.  CRC extends a heartfelt thanks to the Mabee Foundation for their incredible support.

Those interested in giving to the project can designate their online gifts at crc.edu/donations.

CRC’s Grimes Awarded Silver Medal for International Publication

The National Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education published part of CRC’s Dr. Zachary Grimes’ dissertation for publication in May of 2023.

The official publication, titled “Conceptions of Disciplinary Anxiety across Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Contexts: A Critical and Theoretical Synthesis” was awarded a silver medal today.  The journal received International submissions alongside Dr. Grimes; The gold and bronze award winners being from Canada and Bangladesh.

Dr. Steve Cessna, editor-in-chief of the journal, said that the submissions were all evaluated by the editorial team based upon three criteria: Originality and Significance to the field, General Interest to the STEM Education Community, and Scientific Methodology and Rigor. 
 

One of the expert reviewers called the manuscript ‘very informative’ and stated that it ‘would make a significant contribution to the field of STEM education.’

Crowley’s Ridge College is very supportive of Dr. Grimes’ work in this area and congratulates him on this remarkable accomplishment. 

“STEM Education, particularly in PK-12, is currently undergoing some seismic shifts through calls from stakeholders and policymakers to address STEM integration. This means that we are on the cusp of a new subject being taught in school in some ways – the goal of having STEM classes that are separate from science and math, that will stand on their own.  However, very few people have thought about the ramifications of this integration. Of specific importance are how this integration could theoretically impact students. People know about math anxiety, and we train teachers in how to address that with their students – but people are less familiar with anxiety in science or other disciplines. If we integrate these disciplines, are we going to see new anxiety manifestations in students? What if students are math anxious and science anxious – what will that look like in STEM classrooms? That was my goal with this work – to consider where we are headed in education, but keeping an eye on what we’ve learned. The main component of this publication is the development of a new framework for how we view and conceptualize anxiety in STEM classrooms. What are some ‘risk factors’ or other considerations that we know about in the individual component disciplines of STEM that we need to remain aware of in this new integrated, singular STEM classroom?” -Dr. Zachary Grimes, Crowley’s Ridge College.