Home » Messer Construction gives $25,000 grant to Newton’s Attic

Messer Construction gives $25,000 grant to Newton’s Attic

Will increase work space for STEM programs

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 18, 2014) — The Messer Construction Co. Foundation on Wednesday presented $25,000 to Newton’s Attic, a Lexington organization that provides area students, parents and teachers with educational experiences through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) resources.

“The team at Newton’s Attic does tremendous work with young people here in Lexington, so we hope this grant can help to extend their impact,” Messer Vice President Bob Williams said.

Newtons Attic 1Newton’s Attic plans to use the funding to increase classroom and work space from 1,500-s.f. to 3,700-s.f. Renovations, which are expected to be completed in early 2015, will create a multi-purpose area that can be partitioned into smaller learning areas or converted into open space to house large projects or events.

In 2013, Newton’s Attic served approximately 800 children at its facility and worked with many hundreds more off site at area schools, libraries and community centers. The summer program grew from 181 participants in 2012 — the organization’s first year in its current facility — to more than 500 in 2014.

Newton’s Attic, founded in 1998, is a non-profit that allows students to engage in hands-on design, fabrication and field-testing of their own mechanical devices in highly energized and competitive environments.

“The timing is perfect in that we are fast approaching the limits of our current facility in terms of the number of students we can serve,” said Bill Cloyd, president and founder of Newton’s Attic. “We are very much in need of additional and higher quality learning spaces to provide the types of science and engineering education that our students need.”