Innovative Technology Education Fund

Congratulations to Shunetta Daugherty and Pershing Elementary in City on receiving a 2025 ITEF Catapult Grant of $3,800 to purchase iPads and cases! The new devices are helping students explore digital storytelling through apps like Stop Motion Studio and iMovie, giving them hands-on experience creating multimedia projects.

During a recent visit, we met fourth graders Kennedy, Elijah, Mavis, and Aubrey, who proudly shared their script, acting skills, and directing talents as they worked on their film. We can't wait to see the finished product!

Fun Fact Friday: ITEF's Timeline through 40 Years - 1986: HITEC is Born! Humanities Instructional Television Education Center (HITEC) is incorporated in St. Louis to operate educational television channels. Want to learn more? Visit our website at www.innovteched.com to see the full timeline through 40 years!

**Fulton School Receives $20K Grant for Innovative Project**

The Fulton School was one of six area schools chosen to receive 2026 Innovator Grants through the Innovative Technology Education Fund (ITEF). Doling out a total of $298,612 this spring, Innovative Technology Education Fund awards these competitive grants to help schools in the region implement innovative educational technology and creative solutions for K-12 students.

The six recipients were The Fulton School, KIPP St. Louis Public Schools, Nerinx Hall High School, Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School, The Biome School, and the Fort Zumwalt School District.

The Fulton School received $20,988 for their project, “Creating Parallel Timelines: Virtual and Real Life (IRL) Learning Environments.” Their plans support a student-created installation that integrates virtual reality and physical timelines with robotics and AI technology to enhance individual and class lessons. The students will design a website with a virtual reality timeline, build robots, and create 3D-printed models to transform the school’s middle/high school hallway into an interactive learning space.

“I think we all worked really well together to accomplish this,” said Peter Seddon, Fulton School 11th grader and student team member. “I can't wait to get to work on implementing in our school's environment all of the different aspects we've come up with. Personally, I'm most looking forward to purchasing the new equipment. Setting it up will be a lot of fun.”

The objective is to develop the technical infrastructure (hardware and software) to enable students to create parallel, virtual reality (VR) and real-life (IRL) timelines for individual and class projects. This project will result in a website that makes it easy for students to create VR timelines based on real-life spaces. They will also outfit a hallway for real timelines that students can use in parallel to their virtual spaces. The real spaces will be augmented with assistive robotic technology. Both spaces will have access to a local AI conditioned with time and locale-specific documents that can converse with a user.

In the VR space, students will be able to interact with the timeline using VR headsets or a web browser, by touching objects, for example, that would give information, play media, link to other websites, or transport them to other VR spaces.

The IRL timeline could be a basic map on paper, but the students intend to use magnetic whiteboards with QR codes (automatically generated by the website) that map to different viewpoints in the VR space. They will program robotics-based guides to lead to different parts of the timeline, allowing for the addition of 3D-printed and other Makerspace-manufactured items.

The software, robotics, and AI will be built in the Makerspace Lab at The Fulton School by the student team, with the oversight of Dr. Lensyl Urbano, an Upper School Math and Science teacher and Director of the school’s Makerspace Lab.

“I really think that pairing virtual environments with real, physical ones amplifies the advantages of both,” explained Dr. Urbano, “and helps negate the disadvantages. I'm also really excited to see what our students come up with as they collaborate with their teachers to create local AI systems that actually aid learning instead of getting in the way.”

Photo at top: Dr. Lensyl Urbano and the Upper School student team at The Fulton School who worked on the award-winning 2026 ITEF grant proposal, “Creating Parallel Timelines: Virtual and Real Life (IRL) Learning Environments.”

PICTURED ABOVE: Dr. Lensyl Urbano and the Upper School grant proposal team.

The Innovative Technology Education Fund (ITEF) is a St. Louis-based, charitable, nonprofit, private 501 (c)(3) foundation that supports innovation in education by funding advanced technology in the classrooms of public, private, parochial, and charter schools in the greater St. Louis area. In addition, ITEF provides opportunities for educators to continue to grow and learn in their field. Their work is supported through the FCC license they hold for four Educational Broadband channels in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information about ITEF, visit www.innovteched.com

Congratulations to . Mary's South Side Catholic High School on receiving a 2025 ITEF Catapult Grant!

The grant funded Chromebooks and Google Education Management subscriptions for freshmen, expanding access to essential technology and digital learning tools.

During a recent visit, ITEF staff and board member Omarr Williams observed a 9th Grade Introduction to Digital Skills class, where students were learning digital citizenship, professional email communication, and even programming their own video games.

Investments like these help create more equitable learning opportunities and prepare students for success in a digital world.

It's Fun Fact Friday! ITEF's Timeline through 40 Years - Pre-1986 - Foundation:
The FCC established Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) to reserve broadcast spectrum for education, allowing nonprofits and schools to hold licenses for instructional television. What more? Stay tuned as we share nuggets of ITEF's history!

Today marks yet another special milestone—Grants Officer, Stephanie Prewitt, is celebrating her 2nd anniversary with ITEF! We’re grateful for all she’s done and continues to do to support our Board and school partners. Happy Anniversary, Stephanie!

A brighter financial future starts now! Applications are open through 5:00PM TODAY, June 1, 2026 for eligible St. Louis-area 8th graders to apply for the St. Louis Junior Bonds Program, giving students access to an investment fund that can help support future goals like college, homeownership, or starting a business. Learn more and apply today at https://www.programs-forwardplatform.org/st-louis-junior-bonds

Today we celebrate a special milestone—CEO Michele Mosley’s one-year anniversary with ITEF!

Over the past year, Michele’s leadership, vision, and dedication have continued to inspire growth, innovation, and impact across our organization. We’re incredibly grateful for all she has accomplished and for the passion she brings every day.

Please join us in wishing Michele a very happy anniversary—we look forward to all that’s ahead!

Innovation thrives where people feel safe enough to think differently.

The most successful tech teams aren’t just fast — they’re psychologically safe. When people can share ideas, ask questions, and take creative risks without fear, innovation grows stronger.

Mental health isn’t separate from innovation culture — it powers it, and we support it. Visit our website of to learn more about our grantees who are also committed to supporting these tasks -- www.innovteched.com

ITEF's Lean into Learning grant provided a speaker series with Emily Kircher Morris, LPC, who presented for educators and parents in the on understanding and supporting twice-exceptional learners—students who are both cognitively gifted and have a disability. The training emphasized that neurodivergence requires a shift from seeking one-size-fits-all approaches to implementing flexible, individualized strategies that honor a student’s asynchronous development.