(Community Matters)
SUMMER STEM GRANTEES ANNOUNCED
Austin, Texas– KDK-Harman Foundation, an Austin-based family foundation, announced today the grant recipients of their Summer STEM Program Competition. A total of $250,000 was awarded to the five highest ranked Summer STEM programs in the Central Texas area. In February, KDK-Harman Foundation announced a Request for Proposals for innovative, best-in-class Summer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Programs in Central Texas for Summer 2011. With KDK-Harman’s decision to refine its 2011 grantmaking focus to prioritize programs that work to reimagine how, when, and where young people learn, the Foundation is a staunch believer that students must receive hands-on experiences in their schools and communities, access to technology, and exposure to a broader range of possibilities in order to re-design student learning, particularly in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
As Janet Harman, president and founder of KDK-Harman Foundation stated, “We need to re-imagine how, when, and where young people learn to focus on student-centered learning that inspires students and convinces students that learning is fun, meaningful, and has purpose.” Much recent research points to STEM programs in the Out-of-School Time space, and particularly the importance of summer time, as an excellent approach to ensuring students get access to meaningful learning experiences, while at the same time combating summer learning loss.
Through the RFP process, the Foundation seeks to learn and disseminate findings about the Summer STEM landscape in Central Texas to understand how schools, districts and organizations approach summer STEM learning, and what elements of summer STEM programming work best and under what conditions. The Foundation received an unprecedented number of applications in response to this request for proposals, and requests were widely representative of the seven-county geographic area in which the Foundation invests. Staff and trustees were looking for programs that were in strong alignment with the students’ school year and school day, intensive in duration, and that served as many students as possible at a reasonable cost in order to maximize impact. Although the decisions were difficult, the board of directors made grants to the following five school districts and nonprofit organizations:
$62,000 to Austin Independent School District for their Summer STEM Camp at eight Eastside elementary schools. The program will be three weeks in June, serving approximately 180 rising fourth-graders from the eight Eastside elementary schools. The purpose of the summer program is to provide students an opportunity for early engagement in higher level, more rigorous coursework in STEM content area via Project Based Learning instructional strategies, and to introduce students to careers in these areas through field-based experiences, presentations, and interaction with volunteers from the local business community. This program aligns with the District’s plans for developing STEM education and for improving science and math instruction and achievement across the Eastside Memorial High School vertical feeder schools.
$50,000 to Boys and Girls Club of the Austin Area for their Ace It! Summer Instructional Program in Math done in partnership with Sylvan Learning of Austin. Through this partnership, 100 students in 1st – 5th grade in six BGCAA locations will receive intensive math instruction using the AceIt! education program for ten weeks in the summer. BGCAA expects to see dramatic improvement between pre- and post-tests, including the vast majority of participating students meeting or exceeding the average academic growth expected with Sylvan tutoring.
$50,000 to Del Valle Independent School District for their Race to Learn Summer Robotics Program in seven elementary schools in order to build a pipeline of STEM programming from elementary to high school. Funds from this grant will provide four hours daily of instruction in Robotics and Race to Learn curricula—an exciting, cross-curricular resource where students make their own racing teams and undertake educational activities based around Formula One racing—for 308 Del Valle elementary students for one month in the summer.
$36,000 to East Austin College Prep Academy for their Summer STEM Institute, a seven week full-day summer learning experience for 150 students between the ages of 6 – 17 uniquely designed to implement engaging learning opportunities and activities. The program will include project-based and hands-on learning time with different STEM-related subjects covered each week, including astronomy, biology, computer science, engineering geology, health, chemistry and natural science workshops and classes.
$53,000 to Round Rock Independent School District for their 2011 Summer KICKS program for 120 at-risk middle school students in the district. Summer KICKS will offer four weeks (three hours per day for four days per week) of STEM-related and highly engaging courses such as robotics, Techknow 2.0, Kids Invent Toys, forensic science, health professions, STEM-related media production, and fitness physiology.
In addition to the summer 2011 STEM programs, KDK-Harman Foundation also made grants totaling $210,000 at the quarterly board meeting for year-long summer and after-school programming to the following organizations:
$50,000 to Foundation Communities for their PATHS Summer and After School program at their learning centers.
$25,000 to Heart House for their Summer and After School program at two learning centers.
$50,000 to Girlstart to continue to expand their After School STEM programming in rural areas in Central Texas.
$25,000 capacity building grant to the Central Texas After School Network (CTAN).
$60,000 to the MIND Research Institute to implement their ST Math program in two new elementary schools in 3rd through 5th grades.
Planning for a culminating event this fall is underway and will include a collaborative learning session and expert panel, highlighting the work and results of Summer STEM award recipients and offering the opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders, such as nonprofits, area school districts, policymakers and private and corporate funders, to hear, learn and apply best-in-class STEM learning strategies in their communities.
To learn more about the RFP process and its associated events, visit: http://www.kdk-harman.org or follow us on Facebook at: XXXXX
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KDK-Harman Foundation was founded by Janet E. Harman in December of 2004. The Foundation provides financial and capacity-building resources to charitable organizations that serve economically disadvantaged Central Texas families through quality educational programs. The ultimate goal of such funding is to transform their lives from poverty to financial independence to enable a better life for themselves and future generations. In short, the mission of the KDK-Harman Foundation is to break the cycle of poverty through education. The Foundation supports programs within Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Burnet and Llano counties.
Janet Harman is our founder and board pres, Jo Ivestor is a board member and treasurer/secretary, Eugene Sepulveda is board VP
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