Free program provides hands-on STEM lessons, materials and year-round support
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — STEMOVATE: Powering Tennessee’s Future Innovators is expanding from 22 to 56 Tennessee counties for the 2026-27 school year. The expansion follows a five-day, five-city training tour that prepared 4-H agents and teachers from 34 new counties to bring hands-on STEMOVATE lessons to sixth-grade classrooms across the state.
Through STEMOVATE, the University of Tennessee–Oak Ridge Innovation Institute partners with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Tennessee 4-H and UT-Battelle to provide free STEM lessons aligned with Tennessee’s academic standards and designed specifically for sixth-grade students. The program launched during the 2025-26 school year in 22 counties, reaching approximately 6,000 sixth graders.
UT-ORII intentionally designed STEMOVATE to reach students during their middle school years, when young people are beginning to discover their interests, recognize their abilities and think about future possibilities.
“Talent development is central to UT-ORII’s mission, and we believe middle school is an important time to spark an interest in STEM,” said Bridget Waller, UT-ORII director of communications and the STEMOVATE program lead. “We want students to discover that STEM can be fun and exciting and develop a curiosity that stays with them long after the lesson ends. We also want them to begin thinking about where that curiosity could take them and the incredible opportunities available right here in Tennessee.”
During the Aug. 3-7 training tour, the STEMOVATE team traveled from East to West Tennessee, beginning in Greeneville and continuing to Knoxville, Cookeville and Murfreesboro before wrapping up in Jackson.
Participating 4-H agents and teachers stepped into the role of sixth-grade students for the day, experiencing each lesson from their students’ perspective. They were encouraged to think like their students, ask the questions their students might ask and work through each activity just as students will in the classroom.
The response was enthusiastic. One teacher called it “the best in-service STEM training I’ve had in 23 years of teaching,” while another said, “This is the type of training we’ve been asking for for years! I’m so excited to roll these lessons out in our classes.”
The four STEMOVATE lessons focus on concepts Tennessee sixth graders are expected to learn while connecting those concepts to areas important to the state:
- Engineering: Students learn about potential and kinetic energy while using the engineering design process to design, build, test and improve a model roller coaster.
- Nuclear energy: Students explore the science behind nuclear energy and its growing importance in Tennessee.
- Artificial intelligence: Students discover how artificial intelligence works through an interactive lesson that introduces fundamental AI concepts without requiring a computer.
- Invasive species: Students examine the relationship between the hemlock woolly adelgid and the Eastern hemlock in the Appalachian Mountains while collecting and analyzing data, creating graphs and predicting ecological impacts.
Participating educators receive the lesson plans and materials needed for each activity, along with a wheeled storage box and wagon to transport the materials. They also receive year-round support, with access to an ORISE education specialist who helped develop the lessons for questions and guidance throughout the school year.
Career Spotlight videos featuring Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists and technicians complement the lessons by introducing students to STEM professionals and showing how classroom concepts connect to real-world careers.
STEMOVATE will expand to seventh grade for the 2027-28 school year and eighth grade in 2029-30, with plans to serve students across all three middle school grades by 2030.
Additional STEMOVATE training sessions are planned for November for Tennessee educators and 4-H agents interested in bringing the program to their counties. Those interested in participating or learning more can contact Bridget Waller at bwaller5@tennessee.edu or visit utorii.com/STEMOVATE.
About the University of Tennessee–Oak Ridge Innovation Institute
The University of Tennessee–Oak Ridge Innovation Institute brings together the expertise and resources of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to advance collaborative research, education and talent development. Through programs spanning graduate education, research and STEM outreach, UT-ORII is helping develop the talent needed to address Tennessee’s and the nation’s most pressing scientific and technological challenges.
About the University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a statewide system of higher education with campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Pulaski, Martin and Memphis; the UT Institute of Agriculture with a presence in every Tennessee county; and the statewide Institute for Public Service. The UT System manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its UT-Battelle partnership; enrolls nearly 65,000 students statewide; produces more than 15,000 new graduates every year; and represents more than 478,000 alumni around the world.
