WEST CHESTER — West Chester University just got a huge boost to help educate younger students from third graders to high school seniors in the STEM studies (sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics).

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan met at the university Monday morning to jointly celebrate the receipt of $716,000 in Community Project Funding for the “West Chester University Moon Shot: I Want to STEM.” project

The program will expand K-12 STEM engagement, be used to purchase scientific equipment, and mentoring for students of color, low income students and females. The program is dedicated to closing equity gaps in students’ success and defying systematic barriers by 2030.

Casey was all smiles.

“This is a happy day,” the senator told an audience of about three dozen well-wishers. “This is an investment in our children—an investment in our work force.

“We rose to take up a commitment to children and young people in our work force.”

Houlahan hasn’t always been a congresswoman. She talked about her previous careers in the engineering and chemistry fields.

STEM education is something that gets me up every morning,” Houlahan said. “STEM education provides students with learning opportunities to become an innovative work force.

“You cannot be what you cannot see.”

WCU President Chris Fiorentino accepted the check.

“We are trying to generate interest in young people, children of color and young women,” Fiorentino said.

Fiorentino said that the program is an “incredible collaboration” and the process was very competitive and challenging.

Zebulun R. Davenport is the university’s vice president for university advancement and external affairs and was very positive.

“If you believe it, you can achieve it,” he said. “It will make a difference for generations.”

WCU Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering Brandon J. Mitchell,, who is the project’s principal investigator, was excited to perform an experiment involving students and “real” scientific equipment.

“It’s expensive making sure that students have access to equipment they can actually use,” Mitchell said. He also said that a bus will be purchased with the grant to transport young students to the university.

“We are bringing more students to the science and bringing the science to the students,” he said.

Students Garrett Wei and Abiah Mahmood took part in the experiment led by Mitchell.

“We wanted to show them what we could do and to play with real things,” Mahmood said.

During the spring of 2022, a non-partisan panel of 14 community leaders in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District reviewed 42 applications and recommended 15 select programs to Houlahan for funding through the federal program, Community Project Funding.

The WCU project emerged as one of those approved by the House Committee on Appropriations for funding consideration, with shared support and approval through the Senate. With Congressional passage, the award was confirmed when President Biden signed the legislation into law on December 29, 2022.