Rathdrum educators win grant

Katherine Gardiner and Lee Brown, educators at North Idaho STEM Charter Academy in Rathdrum, have received a $2,000 grant through Voya Financial’s 2026 Unsung Heroes awards competition. Of hundreds of applications received from across the United States, Brown and Gardiner are one of just 50 award winners and are the only winners from Idaho.

Gardiner and Brown will now compete with other finalists for one of the top three prizes. They could either win an additional $5,000 for third place, $10,000 for second place or $25,000 for first place. 

The Voya Unsung Heroes program awards grants to K-12 educators to support innovative teaching methods and educational projects. Gardiner and Brown’s award-winning idea is their “Maximizing Our Mars Rover Reach” project, which has students collaborate in teams to build a Lego Mars rover with a functioning rock collector. The sixth-grade classes also program the Rover to function autonomously. The project culminates with a Mars Rover competition including challenges such as hill climb, blind drive, rock collecting and speed course. 

The Voya grant will fund additional motors, controllers, and hubs, as well as duplicate Martian landscapes. 

The Voya Unsung Heroes program has awarded grants to over 2,710 educators since its inception in 1996. 

    Lee Brown.