Elaina Fields at Claxton receives runner-up and Viewers’ Choice awards in classroom competition
Stacey Whaley encourages students at Northview Primary STEM School in Kodak to imagine a world of science, technology, engineering and math beyond the limitations of the classroom.
On Tuesday, March 22, ORAU surprised Whaley with the announcement that she was the winner of ORAU’s Extreme Classroom Makeover and will receive the grand prize of $25,000 for new classroom technology.
Elaina Fields, a third-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School in Anderson County, was named runner-up in the Extreme Classroom Makeover and received a check for $5,000 Thursday, March 24. She received an additional $2,500 as winner of the competition’s Viewers’ Choice Award for her video submission.
Fields is a first-year teacher who jumped at the opportunity to enter the Extreme Classroom Makeover. While she didn’t win the grand prize, she said she is honored to be runner-up.
As for winning the Viewers’ Choice Award, Fields said the honor “makes me feel loved that so many people took the time to support the work we did to create the video.”
This is the 13th time ORAU has presented the Extreme Classroom Makeover as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to strengthen STEM education throughout East Tennessee. ORAU launched Extreme Classroom Makeover in 2008.
Since then, ORAU has awarded $460,500 to area STEM educators. Prizes have been awarded every year except 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
STEM teachers of third- through 10th-grade students who work for an East Tennessee public school within 50 miles of Oak Ridge are eligible to apply to ORAU’s annual competition. Applicants are asked to submit a video that creatively explains their need for technology in the classroom and how this technology would improve the educational experience for their students.