South Carolina Governors School for Science and Mathematics Foundation

Gssm serves over 9,000 annually throughout South Carolina with programs for students in 3rd through 12th grades, as well as providing professional development to teachers. The gssm Foundation raises private funds to ensure that all qualified students can participate, regardless of ability to pay. This program support includes financial assistance for residential students and summer campers, program materials for outreach within the public schools, academic clubs and competitions, and funds to support research, and international experiences and learning. These expenses also include an allocation of the Foundation salary expense representing the work the Foundation staff does for these programs.

Gssm has been named the k-12 education & workforce center provider for the sc nexus project for advanced energy resiliency. By summer 2025, gssm will be teaching an advanced energy curriculum in all 3rd 12th grade programs. In addition, gssm students are participating in service-learning trips through medlife, a non-profit organization that partners with low-income communities in latin america and africa to improve access to medicine, education, and community development projects. In 2022, the gssm Foundation raised funds to purchase a hydroponic research lab, which unites South Carolina's rich agricultural heritage with its high-tech manufacturing expertise in one innovative platform, which connects students of all ages to gssm's prowess in scientific research. The lab is a hands-on teaching tool for classes across the stem spectrum: biology, chemistry, botany, environmental Science, computer Science, engineering, robotics, and economics. Each year, students engage in real-world research projects, including testing growth parameters, identifying genetic variations in plants, studying water and nutrient-use efficiency, integrating robotics and automation to manage growing conditions, and investigating the economics of hydroponics.