FOCUS Broadband recently awarded $4,362 in grant funds to educators supporting programs that expand educational opportunities for students in Robeson County. The funds are part of the cooperative’s grant program, which has awarded $1.085 million in community and education grants to more than 550 programs since its inception in 2006.

FOCUS Broadband’s Board Liaison for the 2024 Grant Committee Gene Ward stated in a press release, “We are proud to award these grants, and we look forward to seeing the positive impacts they will have on students and teachers within our local communities.”

This year’s grant recipients included:

• East Robeson Elementary School (Phillippe John F. Sipacio): Grant funds will help purchase LEGO education learning tools used to enhance language activities for multilingual learning learners.
• Southside Ashpole Elementary School (Joanne McGirt): Through the Drones for the Stem Lab project, 10 Tello Drones will be purchased to assist students in learning coding skills in K-5th grade STEM labs.

FOCUS Broadband will be accepting applications for the 2025 Community Connect Grants and

Education Grants program beginning early this December. For more information regarding the grant programs, visit www.focusbroadband.com/giving-back or call 910-755-1885.