Innovative Technology Education Fund (ITEF) is giving area teachers and other professionals the opportunity to explore the Saint Louis Science Center’s new Makerspace. The group will then participate in a roundtable discussion to identify barriers that prevent students from accessing real innovation.

The Innovative Technology Education Fund (ITEF) is a St. Louis-based nonprofit that provides grants to advance innovation and technology in classrooms. Last year, ITEF awarded a total of six grants averaging approximately $51,000 each. In 2015, ITEF awarded more than $347,000 in grants to seven area schools.

Since 2006, ITEF has provided grants to area schools allowing them to transform libraries into “makerspaces”, introduce robotics and animation to elementary art students, and put computers with advanced software in the hands of middle-school students.

The mission of the Saint Louis Science Center is to ignite and sustain lifelong science and technology learning.  It is one of the top 15 science centers worldwide and was named one of the “Top 10 Science Centers for Families” by Parents magazine.  The Saint Louis Science Center complex includes a five-story OMNIMAX® Theater, Boeing Hall and the James S. McDonnell Planetarium.  For more information about the Saint Louis Science Center, please visit slsc.org.