Bertha Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy was one of five schools in the nation to receive a grant of up to $100,000 as a finalist in the Northrop Grumman Foundation’s Fab School Labs contest.

Aimed at promoting science, technology, engineering and math education, the school lab makeover contest provides public middle schools with an opportunity to create a state-of-the-art science lab.

“We are so excited to be one of the winning schools for this much-needed grant,” said Principal Ivette Savina. “This grant allows us to create a STEM lab that will inspire young ladies for years to come.”

Inadequate funds to purchase equipment and an overall lack of facilities are frequently cited as problems by elementary and middle school teachers and educators, according to the National Science Board.

After advancing to the semifinals along with 19 other public middle schools, the five winning schools were chosen based on a final review conducted by the Fab School Labs team. The team assessed how each school’s desired STEM lab would allow for new teaching methods and lesson plans to be implemented, course objective suitability and overall feasibility.

Public support also showed each school’s interest during a five-day online voting campaign hosted on the Fab School Labs Facebook page that generated more than 45,500 votes. Sadler Means YWLA will work with Northrop Grumman Foundation’s Fab School Labs partner Flinn Scientific, a design and engineering company, to design and create the STEM lab.

The Sadler Means YWLA lab will be designed as a place of inspiration, imagination and opportunity for the next generation of innovators, inventors and problem-solvers.

The other winning schools are: Benjamin Syms Middle School, Virginia Clifton Middle School, Aurora Frontier K-8, Lucille M. Brown Middle School.

For more information, please visit fabschoollabs.com.