The Idaho Lottery granted two Valley View Elementary third-grade teachers with their wish for STEM activities and supplies.

The two teachers — Shelly Hoisington and Kelsey Rice — decided to apply for the Classroom Wishlist award after attending a summer STEM conference sponsored by Boise State University.

"The conference provided a lot of information and hands-on learning opportunities," Hoisington said. "We learned a multitude of strategies designed to integrate STEM into various subject areas and came home ready to implement them."

While they were excited to turn their new teaching ideas and skills into reality for their students, they lacked the necessary resources to do so. They applied for and received a Classroom Wishlist award for $3,435 for STEM carts that include games, puzzles, engineering kits, and building materials.

Although the award was written with third graders in mind, Hoisington said the items and materials are available to all teachers at the school. The STEM activity items and materials are kept on two rolling carts and can easily be moved from classroom to classroom.

"Bringing STEM into the classroom will encourage students to think, create, and explore," she added. "Hands-on experiences offered to students allow them to think outside of the box and build a foundation of strong critical thinking skills. The activities provided will also promote collaboration and communication among peers as they work together to solve problems."