The West Hartford-based Children’s Museum has received a $1.6 million grant for a novel collaborative in Hartford.

Submitted

The Children’s Museum has received a four-year, $1.6 million U.S. Department of Education grant for the novel Center for STEAM Advancement Collaborative, which will deliver educational enrichment programs to Hartford children and their caregivers.

The Collaborative includes the Hartford Parent University, the Hartford Youth Scholars, the YMCA of Greater Hartford, the Legacy Foundation of Hartford, and The Children’s Museum with organizational oversight by the City of Hartford Treasurer’s Office. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) based programs will be provided to Hartford children from kindergarten through college with the goal of significantly enhancing their personal and career development opportunities.

This program award is the result of a two year planning effort funded by Voya Foundation and CT Department of Economic and Community Development. It was greatly facilitated by the offices of U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy. This Collaborative came about because of the vision and hard work of Adam Cloud, City of Hartford’s recently retired Treasurer, and Peter Stevens, the Museum’s Board chair. They brought the collaborators together to pursue this innovative program structured to focus on assisting youth and their families from under-resourced Hartford communities in strengthening their STEAM-based skills from kindergarten through college. The current City of Hartford Treasurer, Carmen I. Sierra, will continue the collaboration to pursue this new program.