Vision & Mission - Honda News & Press -...

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Transcript of Vision & Mission - Honda News & Press -...

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Vision & MissionLetter from the PresidentRetrospective - Celebrating 25 YearsGrants Overview 2005-2009

EnvironmentLearning to Love the EarthSoaking Up ScienceTaking the LeapCultivating Young MindsAn Ocean of LearningBuilding Connections to the Natural WorldLessons from the Land

Job TrainingConnecting Native Cultures in the WorkplaceShadowing Your FuturePreparing for a Productive LifeImpacting the Lives of OthersLighting a Fire in Young Minds

LiteracyPrescription for SuccessScience Fiction . . . and Science FactDeveloping Science LiteracyA Real Power LunchLiteracy for the BlindPajama Time

MathMathFestThe Business of Learning MathIn the Fold

ScienceLearning with Harry PotterPreventing Obesity FUN with NatureTools for a Successful Science ProjectGirls Exploring ScienceGreat Women, Great ScienceFeeding Childish CuriosityRISE to the ChallengeLearning Science from Little AlSeeing Your PotentialBill Nye Meets CSIGateway to LearningThe Scholars of Summer

STEM

Technology

Statistics & FinancialsGrantee ListingAcknowledgements

Staying After SchoolTools for TomorrowBuilding Cleveland’s FutureGEMS on Florida’s Gulf CoastAn Intrepid EducationTechnology is the AnswerA GEM in the Making

Powering the FutureGetting Serious About the Fun of ScienceEncouraging Future ScientistsBringing the World into the ClassroomsLearning Through InventionIntroducing Girls to Science

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Society will be better, in part, due to Honda’s philanthropy and community leadership.

Meet the needs of American society in the areas of youth and scientific education by awarding grants to nonprofits, while strategically assisting communities in deriving long-term benefits.

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Gary Kessler President, Board of Trustees American Honda Foundation

In the 25 years since the establishment of the American Honda Foundation, education has never been more important, and organizations serving children never more challenged. So the focus of this Report on Giving – “Perspectives: Through the Eyes of a Child” – is more than a relevant theme. For all of us serving on the board of trustees of the American Honda Foundation it is the lens through which we look at every funding decision we make.

As we approached the 25th anniversary of the Foundation, we took pride in the fact that our giving has remained primarily focused on the areas of youth and scientific education. In 25 years, we have contributed more than $25 million to community organizations. While this Report on Giving offers a retrospective on the first 25 years of the Foundation, the summary of grant recipients focuses on the community organizations we have supported in the five years since our last report in seven categories: the environment, job training, literacy, math, science, STEM and technology.

With the conclusion of the first quarter century of the American Honda Foundation, we also prepare for the uncertainties of the next 25 years. We understand fully that the difficult economic conditions that challenge our business operations also make it more difficult for many programs serving children to obtain funding. At the same time, one of the critical roles of any Foundation is to properly manage the endowed fund that will sustain our philanthropic activities into the future. Balancing these two priorities – the needs of the future, with the needs of today – the board of trustees of the American Honda Foundation made the decision over the past year to continue to fund grants to community organizations despite the rather significant losses the Foundation suffered. This was a decision that made me very proud to call myself a member of the board of trustees.

We appreciate the time you take to read about our Foundation and the organizations we have funded over the past five years. I hope you will share in the joy we experience in helping these incredible organizations create a better and stronger future for children.

Finally, as we look back at how far we have traveled since the establishment of the American Honda Foundation in the summer of 1984, we also recognize that the road ahead is a long one. Importantly, as we continue our efforts to serve the needs of young people across America, we thank you for traveling on this road with us.

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Letter from the President Celebrating YearsAmerican Honda Foundation

The pursuit of new challenges has always been critical to Honda’s goal of meeting the needs of its customers and society. By partnering with organizations that are challenged everyday to respond to the unmet needs of society, the American Honda Foundation is helping to create lasting benefits for communities throughout America.

Established in 1984, to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of American Honda Motor Co, Inc., the American Honda Foundation was the company’s first dedicated philanthropic arm. Initially endowed with $5 million, the Foundation was part of a strategic effort to ensure that Honda could fulfill its corporate goal to become a company that society wants to exist.

Community involvement wasn’t new to American Honda. The company’s first 25 years had included a number of generous philanthropic efforts. A 1965 contribution of $25,000 stunned the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Safety Council and led to its establishment of The Film Library, now the nation’s largest collection of safety films. And Honda’s support of the National Youth Project Using Minibikes (NYPUM), beginning in 1970, turned an initiative started at a Los Angeles branch of the YMCA into a national program. But American Honda did not have an ongoing and strategic plan for its corporate giving until the creation of the Foundation.

For Tetsuo Chino, president of American Honda at the time of the 25th anniversary, the establishment of the Foundation was an important component of the company’s overall effort to act as a responsible corporate citizen. “When I was first stationed in the States, I didn’t realize that America wasn’t just about the corporation,

but individuals who are thinking about making contributions to the community,” said Chino in a January 2009 interview. “This is something we lacked among the Japanese to some degree.”

Chino was also inspired by an existing Honda community program. “I learned that we donated motorcycles to a youth program called NYPUM that we put together with the YMCA. They so much appreciated Honda’s donation of the bikes. So, I was impressed that if we become American citizens, we must do the same things that the American general public and companies are doing. So, we established the charitable organization American Honda Foundation.”

But before the Foundation was formally established, American Honda conducted a survey of community organizations seeking grants, including both large and small agencies and national non-profit organizations. The survey asked grant seekers what

they did not generally like about foundations. Among the findings was that non-profits rarely had an opportunity to talk personally with foundation staff, they often had to wait several days to have a phone call returned and were left to wait several months before learning of a decision on a grant proposal. Further, many foundations asked community organizations to develop new programs for funding rather than to award funding for existing successful initiatives.

This research was reflected in the basic strategy of the American Honda Foundation. Quick responses from Foundation staff to telephone and written

communication from grant seekers became part of the Foundation’s basic commitment.

RETROSPECTIVE

Amer

ican Honda Foundation

American Honda Foundation - 25 Years of Changing Lives One Dream at a Time. . .

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A key point of differentiation for the American Honda Foundation was application of Honda’s “go to the spot” philosophy. No grants would be awarded without a personal site visit by Foundation staff. Further, the Foundation reduced the entire grant-making review process to three months – including the initial staff review, a site visit and full review by the board of trustees.

The American Honda Foundation also determined to consider funding for existing programs and projects that had already proved successful. Finally, while grants would range in size from $2,500 to $100,000, the goal of the Foundation was to fund more organizations with smaller contributions. During the 25-year history of the Foundation an average grant size of about $50,000 has been maintained.

One of the Honda associates involved in the initial survey was Kathy Carey, who would go on to serve as the manager of the Foundation for 22 years. Soon, Janice Sakamoto joined the team, followed by Renee Lavoie and Donna Hammond. Together they managed the grant-making process and day-to-day Foundation operations.

Despite the initial planning, the Foundation was unprepared for the number and variety of grant applications it would receive. “Our lofty goals came face to face with reality when the first wave of grant applications arrived,” said Carey. “We were overwhelmed by the many, extremely complex challenges.”

Chino had not known what to expect from the new venture. “I was so astonished that there were so many requests from all over the [United] States,” he said. “For example, from the south coast of California, someone had discovered mammoth tusks, and wanted to dig them up and they wanted some money from the American Honda Foundation.”

Together, Chino, Carey and the other members of the board of trustees determined that the need was so enormous that the American Honda Foundation did not have the resources to fund all of the worthy programs and projects that applied for grants. The only way a single organization could make a difference was through the implementation of a targeted, focused program. “We needed to concentrate the focus of our benevolence or we would need hundreds of millions [of dollars],” said Chino. “So, we considered in what area we could contribute to society. Finally, I established youth and science education. That is the foundation of American Honda Foundation.”

Contributing $220,000 in grants during the first year of its existence, the American Honda Foundation exceeded $1 million in annual contributions for the first time in fiscal year 1992. During the first ten years of existence, the Foundation funded 176 programs and projects with 85 organizations, totaling $7.8 million in grants – with more than $4.6 million (almost 60% of the total budget) devoted to youth education, with another $2.1 million (almost 28% of giving) going to programs and projects focused on improving science and technology education.

The original staff of the American Honda Foundation: Kathryn Carey, left, Manager; and Janice Sakamoto, right, Senior Administrative Assistant.

The first Board of Trustees of the American Honda Foundation. Left to right: John Petas, Member; Tak Ageno, Treasurer; Tetsuo Chino, President; Mike Nitz, Secretary; and Cliff Schmillen, Vice President.

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Celebrating YearsAmerican Honda Foundation

Tadao Kobayashi, president of the Foundation from 1993 to 2000 explained the approach. “A special challenge is understanding how education can help youth experience the joy of discovery,” said Kobayashi in 1993. “Science and math, with which the rules of nature are explained and understood, can generate excitement when discovering hidden things. This is the kind of challenge we at the American Honda Foundation are attempting to accomplish.”

As the Foundation marked its 10th anniversary, the management of the American Honda Foundation’s investment portfolio became a central focus. “One of the most important roles of the Foundation is to properly manage the endowed fund so that monies will be available to sustain our philanthropic activity,” said Kobayashi. However, during 1994 and 1995, the U.S. stock and bond markets plummeted and remained depressed for several years. The high rates of return on the investment portfolios of the American Honda Foundation that the Foundation had previously enjoyed were no longer sustainable.

The Foundation had invested heavily in bonds in the 1980s, a conservative strategy that resulted in a 60% decline in investment income when the stock market became the hot investment strategy for financial growth in ensuing years. This had a detrimental impact on the Foundation’s endowment. As a result, after annual giving reached more than $1.2 million in fiscal year 1994, the Foundation’s contributions dropped to a little more than $300,000 in 1996 and would not

surpass the $1 million mark again until fiscal year 2001.

The Foundation board changed its investment strategy toward a more balanced direction in the mid-1990s, which paid dividends through much of the 2000s. The endowment increased from $15 million at the end of fiscal year 1994 to more than $30.8 million in fiscal year 2008. The Foundation’s grant-making grew as well, with average annual giving of nearly $1.5 million from 2001 through 2008.

However, the “once in 100 years” economic crisis that struck the financial markets in 2008, saw the value of the Foundation’s investments drop dramatically, and severely impacted the amount of funds available for the Foundation to contribute to the many worthy organizations seeking grants. After assets peaked at $37 million in 2007, they stood at $26.3 million at the end of fiscal year 2009.

The American Honda Foundation did not back away from its commitment to support community organizations. Even in the face of severe economic conditions, the board of trustees made a critical decision to utilize the Foundation’s endowment rather than completely pull back from its annual giving. “We’re still giving because we believe that it’s very important at this time to be able to give to communities that are in need,” said Alexandra Warnier, who became manager of the Foundation in 2006. “The board has been very clear that they are prepared to do whatever is necessary to provide support during these challenging times.”

The experience of the 1990s, however, did lead to a change in the Foundation’s giving strategy from a multi-year to a one-year grant-making approach. In the ‘90s, facing declining investment income, the Foundation had to fulfill a number of multi-year grants that strained its resources. Today, when a community organization

RETROSPECTIVE

The American Honda Foundation is committed to supporting community organizations like Charles R. Drew University of Medicine Science.

Past recipient Living Classrooms based in Washington, DC acquaints students with marine life.

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approaches the Foundation with a multi-year program, it is required to seek funding each year, with no certainty of additional grants after receiving the initial funding. “We look at each year’s grant-seekers based on the merits of that group of applicants,” said Warnier. “There are no guarantees that an organization that received funds one year will win the support of the board the following year.”

In fact, the Foundation wants organizations to demonstrate that they have other sources of support. “We want these organizations and programs to continue growing, so we want them to have a variety of funding sources,” said Warnier. “Our mission is to touch as many organizations as possible.”

The process of considering the grants is fair, transparent and objective, with the American Honda Foundation board of trustees using a structured and systematic Kepner-Tregoe based evaluation process to reach decisions. It is worth noting that there is no consideration whatsoever given to the interests of Honda in determining who is funded, only the interests of those seeking to be supported.

Board meetings are marked by active discussion of grant proposals. “The hardest part is figuring out who it is that we won’t be able to fund,” said Gary Kessler, president of the American Honda Foundation. “Virtually all of the grants that are given to the board for consideration are worthy of our support. It takes real commitment and a lot of preparation from each board member in order to actively participate in this process.”

The organizations that are awarded grants are not the only ones who benefit from the process. “We get much more than we give when

we serve our fellow human beings,” said Kessler. “I am infinitely more valuable to Honda and myself as a result of this experience and I think that feeling is held by everyone on our board. It is also a great benefit to all of Honda that the experiences and joy each board member has with the foundation are taken back to their work, and in turn shared in an encouraging way with their fellow associates. Our entire organization is enriched.”

Originally composed of five members in 1984, the board of trustees was subsequently expanded to seven members and today is

represented by a nine-member board. All board members are Honda associates, who serve 2- to 3-year terms. Nominations to serve on the board are solicited from managers throughout the company and the associates are asked to write essays about Honda philosophy and philanthropy and explain why they want to be a part of the Foundation. A formal interview completes the process. The board is made up of Honda associates from a variety of departments and levels of responsibility and from offices throughout the country.

All of the site visits to grant applicant finalists are conducted by American Honda Foundation staff, a time consuming and often emotional process that provides the board with information gleaned ‘at the spot’ about how the organization is meeting the needs of

its constituents. In addition a comprehensive formal written analysis of each finalist is provided to the board prior to each meeting. Foundation staff present all their findings about the organization. “When our board evaluates the opportunity to serve an organization we try to deeply understand both the formal written analysis as well

The former Mayor of Los Angeles, the late Thomas Bradley, presents Mr. Tetsuo Chino, President of the Board of Directors of the American Honda Foundation with a Commendation for its innovative, creative and humanistic corporate philanthropy.

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Celebrating YearsAmerican Honda Foundation

as the ‘at the spot’ observations,” said Kessler. “In my 12 years on the board, there hasn’t been a time that I haven’t modified my evaluation after having heard the ‘at the spot’ presentation from the Foundation staff member. It is what is most unique about what we do and how we do it.”

Most of the staff remain with the Foundation for years, enabling them to leverage their experience in the grant-making process and deep knowledge of Honda’s culture. For instance, Carey helped guide the Foundation for 22 years before retiring in 2006. Hammond, a senior program officer, joined the staff in 1986. And today the staff consists of a total of two additional people. Each staff member receives training in grant making, as well as finance classes to support their ability to assess the financial stability of the organizations that apply for grants.

“The most impressive aspects of the Foundation are the dedicated staff who are highly committed to help people and who will go anywhere to see the actual spot – along with the joy and pride every board member feels and the commitment they have to the Foundation’s philosophy and activities,” said Hiroshi Soda, who served as president of the Foundation from 2000 to 2008.

The Foundation currently receives around 200 applications per quarter with about eight receiving funding in normal business conditions. Through its first 25 years, the Foundation awarded 519 grants totaling $25,040,888 to organizations in 47 states, as well as Washington, D.C. and the territory of Puerto Rico. Almost 115 million people – mostly children – have been served by these grants, with organizations serving primarily ethnic minorities receiving more than 58% of the funds.

As the American Honda Foundation looks to build on its success, the board is considering strategies that will enable it to have the greatest impact in the community. This includes the possibility of collaboration with other foundations to support worthwhile

programs, and an interest in supporting programs where success is not limited to the program receiving the funds. “We want to see if there are model programs out there for science, math and literacy that are replicable and can be applied more broadly throughout the country,” said Warnier. “We also want to support innovative and creative programs that focus on achieving systemic change in math and science.”

In short, just as the 50th anniversary of American Honda marked the start of the next 50 years of company history, the 25th anniversary of the American Honda Foundation provided an opportunity to renew the challenge to support the efforts of community organizations to contribute to meaningful change in the lives of children across America.

RETROSPECTIVE

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American Honda Foundation: Donna Hammond, Celeste Catalano, Alexandra Warnier, Nichole Whitley

Past & Present Presidents

Past & Present Members of the Board of Trustees

* Current board members

Tak AgenoKurt AntoniusSteve BaileyJavier CalderonSherry CameronDavid CastellanosSteve Center*Scott ConnerJeff ConradJoanne DavisDonna DeLeone-VandenbergMichael DelgadoKent DellingerAbe Dent Melissa DoppRichard Downing

Don EnglishScott Gerke*Terri HashimotoLorraine Hutton*Osamu IidaLou JunemanGary Kessler*Ben KnightAnn KusterSharon Mann GarrettRandi MarellLorraine Martinez*Oraetta Minor*Yoshihide MunekuniMike Nitz Dewayne Odom*

Kazuhiro Odaka*Richard PerlmutterJohn PetasMyron ReedGail Rodkin*Tom RossCliff SchmillenTakashi SekiguchiMarshilia SnoddyWade TerryRich ThomasJeanette TomikawaMike WallaceGreg WilliamsShigeru Yoshida

1984-1987 Tetsuo Chino1987-1993 Shogo Iizuka1993-2000 Tadao Kobayashi2000-2008 Hiroshi Soda2008-2009 Takashi Sekiguchi2009-Present Gary Kessler*

Past & Present Presidents

Celebrating YearsAmerican Honda Foundation

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GRANTS OVERVIEW2005 - 2009

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ENVIRONMENT

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The McHenry County Schools Environmental Education Program (MCSEEP) reaches approximately 40,000 students in a creative and fun way with the message that “we all depend on the Earth for everything and that we need to take care of the Earth.” Through annual presentations which include drama, improvisation, music, games, activities and humor, Kindergarten to 12th grade students move through six environmental topics: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; Compost; Natural Resources; Energy, including Renewable Energy; Biodiversity; Global warming; Climate Change; and Water Pollution.

Grant funds have been used to maintain the excellence of this long-standing program by investing in new resources, such as videos and DVDs, new costumes for plays, new posters, new educational materials and workshops for the program’s teachers, as well as development of bilingual materials and expansion into high-school curricula. The initiative’s high school programs include: Green Careers; Food for Thought: How What We Eat Impacts the

Environment; and Big Foot: Our Carbon Footprint.

From Kindergarten through 12th grade MCSEEP presentations always stress the message: “what can we do.”

Aquatic Adventures has helped thousands of wide-eyed and eager elementary and middle school students from low-income, urban schools soak up new knowledge through a tuition-free, hands-on environmental science education program focused on the ocean and nature. Through the Science, Education and Awareness (SEA) Series, students increase their science achievement, develop their own interests in science, and expand their understanding of the natural environment and their role as stewards.

In addition, young people learn about careers in science and begin to envision themselves as future scientists. Third grade students conduct their first dissection and have been heard to exclaim, “I feel like a real

scientist!” Sixth graders conduct experiments and challenge teachers with: “I really want you to teach me more experiments so when I grow up I will be a scientist.”

The program is provided in partnership with local, under-resourced schools that would otherwise not be able to offer these budding scientists innovative, experiential science opportunities that integrate lessons and materials for students, as well as thematic curriculum and professional development for classroom teachers. With each successive

year, 3rd through 6th grade students expand their skills and knowledge through participation in creative classroom labs, exploration of field sites that act as “living laboratories,” and environmental service projects through which they help to protect our natural resources.

Grantee: McHenry County Regional Office of EducationMcHenry County Schools Environmental Education Program - Woodstock, Illinoishttp://www.mchenry.k12.il.us/enviro_ed_program.html

Grantee: Aquatic Adventures Science Education FoundationSEA (Science, Education and Awareness) Series - San Diego, Californiahttp://www.aquaticadventures.org

Learning to Love the Earth

Soaking Up Science

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Surrounded by the watery-blue world of the Yahara watershed, preschoolers at Dane County Parent Council (Head Start) Centers can discover their potential through the Leap into Lakes program. The program immerses children in an underwater world of discovery. Through dramatic play, children become fish, mallards, herons, frogs, and finally scientists, gathering fish from the water below their boat for identification and measurement at a research lab. Role playing as animals, researchers, and landscape artists allows children to uncover an unknown underwater world.

Engaging preschoolers in inquiry-based learning is even more significant because of the community this program serves – families in Head Start programs, which represent children receiving the highest levels of public assistance. This project excites and motivates young people by introducing age-appropriate science content and igniting curiosity about the natural world. Leap into Lakes creates that positive first experience with science that leads to academic success and even career exploration.

Through programs like Leap into Lakes, the Madison Children’s Museum strives to achieve its mission: to connect children with their families, their communities, and the world beyond through discovery learning and creative play.

Taking the Leap

Grantee: Madison Children’s Museum“Leap into Lakes” - Madison, Wisconsinhttp://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org

Located on the North Carolina A&T State University farm in Greensboro, Discover Agriculture is a powerful teaching and learning center that goes beyond the scope of a typical classroom learning experience. Young scientists from elementary schools, together with their teachers, engage in minds-on, hands-on activities while they see and learn about food and fiber production.

Discover Agriculture engages students and encourages their successes in science, math, language arts, writing, and nutrition. Students explore the farm, visiting a series of stations where they learn how the food they eat is produced and the environmental consequences of agricultural practices on soil and water quality. The result of integrating the outdoor program with classroom instruction is an increase in the students’ agriscience literacy, and many additional learning modalities are engaged, resulting in fewer students being left behind.

Discover Agriculture is part of the Cooperative Extension Program (CEP) at NC A&T State University, which meets the educational needs of youth (as well as adults) who have social, cultural and economic challenges. The CEP is part of a publicly funded, informal education “System” that links

the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 74 state land-grant universities, 30 tribal colleges, and nearly 3,150 counties nationwide. The System’s stated mission is to enable people to improve their lives and communities through learning partnerships that put knowledge to work.

Grantee: NC A&T State University“Discover Agriculture” - Greensboro, North Carolinahttp://www.ag.ncat.edu/extension/discoveragriculture/index.htm

Cultivating Young Minds

Founded in 1996 by wetsuit innovator Jack O’Neill, O’Neill Sea Odyssey (OSO), is an ocean-going science and ecology program that engages 4th - 6th grade students from inland areas of California. Ocean Opportunities participants are transported from their schools to the deck of the Odyssey, a 65-foot catamaran sailing the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. There they receive hands-on lessons about marine science, marine and watershed ecology, navigation and mathematics. The activities support the students’ in-school curriculum and contribute to their understanding of the critical relationship between the living sea and the environment.

The program – free to participating students – is designed as a stimulating and intimate learning

experience that lasts a lifetime. Students earn their way into the program by designing and performing a project to benefit their community.

OSO has served 42,000 students since its inception. In 2005, the program received the prestigious California Governor’s award in Economic and Environmental Leadership and, in 2005, it received U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s Conservation Champion award.

Grantee: O’Neill Sea Odyssey“Ocean Opportunities”Santa Cruz, Californiahttp://www.oneillseaodyssey.org

An Ocean of Learning

Students describe with nostalgia their first visit to the Common Ground, the nation’s first charter high school focused on the urban environment. Though they are inside the city limits of New Haven, Connecticut, the sights and sounds don’t quite compute - the sounds of roosters and native birds, gardens full of life, producing vegetables for both school lunches and local farmers’ markets and elementary students on field trips.

Over the course of four years, students discover all the lessons this site – a research farm in a forested state park on the city’s edge – has to teach. They study geometry by developing plans for green school buildings. They explore the forces that shape the school’s site through real scientific research, and hone the mathematical tools needed to describe these patterns. In the process, they get ready for competitive colleges and environmental leadership.

Common Ground students have a chance to share these “Lessons from the Land” with the 6,000 people who visit Common Ground each year. They are hard at work researching, writing, and installing a series of museum-quality exhibits on site, working with staff from the Yale Peabody Museum. By spring 2010, students will arrive daily at an outdoor museum of which they are the curators.

Building Connections to the Natural World Lessons from the Land

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Grantee: New Haven Ecology Project (a.k.a. Common Ground)“Lessons from the Land” - New Haven, Connecticuthttp://www.commongroundct.org

Grantee: Wallowa Resources, Inc.“Youth Stewardship Education Program”Enterprise, Oregonhttp://www.wallowaresources.org/youth.htm

Wallowa Resources promotes healthy lands and communities in northeast Oregon through knowledge and research. The Youth Stewardship Education Program of the Wallowa Mountain Institute (WMI), the research and education arm of Wallowa Resources, serves kindergarten through 12th grade students in Wallowa County through courses designed to meet the needs of different age groups. Elementary school students enjoy a weeklong outdoor classroom exploring the natural world in the fall and spring. Middle school students participate in a Friday program that investigates seasonal cycles of local plants and animals, as well as the functioning of river systems. High school students participate in advanced science electives, long-term watershed monitoring programs, and summer internships.

Students involved in WMI programs are building connections to their natural world in Wallowa County, as well as a sense of place. During the program’s watershed monitoring program, a student exclaimed that they “wished science was like this everyday.” The students enjoy and learn from the hands-on experiences and their parents are excited to see their children so interested in learning.

WMI programs offer education programs that help the people of Wallowa County and the Intermountain West sustain and improve their communities and their lands.

JOB TRAINING

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Grantee: Heard Museum“American Indian High School Guide” - Phoenix, Arizonahttp://www.heard.org

Grantee: Urban Education Partnership “Career Academies” - Los Angeles, California http://www.urbanedpartnership.org

Connecting Native Cultures In the Workplace Shadowing Your Future

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The Heard Museum’s rich history as one of the Phoenix area’s first cultural attractions and as one of the world’s finest destinations for learning about American Indian arts and cultures makes it the perfect organization to offer the American Indian High School Guide program. Native American students have the opportunity to learn about their own, and other Native cultures, as well as teach visitors about these cultures. The program presents an alternative to negative behaviors that high school teens face each day. It offers a safe place for the students to learn about each other while striving toward one common goal: to learn self-confidence and self-esteem.

The program offers a broader perspective of who the children are as Native youth and where they come from. By participating in the program, students also learn time-management skills, job and interview skills, as well as complete museum tour guide training. The program teaches students to respect other cultures, as well as the importance of learning from each other and sharing experiences. They come from and learn from a variety of tribal affiliations – Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and Tohono O’odham among others. By giving tours, the public as well as the students learn that American Indians are not a part of the past, but rather are living and thriving cultures of today.

The high school guides are also an integral part of museum life. They work along side visiting Native artists. During the Hoop Dance Contest, Indian Fair & Market, Spanish Market, and the Folk Art Festival, the students help with visiting artists and contestants as well as making fry bread.

The opportunity to work side by side with the finest chefs at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills might seem like a dream in the eyes of a child. Inner city students from Fremont High School in Los Angeles had the chance to do just that through the Urban Education Partnership’s Career Academies program during a day spent job-shadowing many of the hotel’s employees.

To see and touch (and even taste!) a productive role in the workforce inspires students to dream beyond limitations that might surround them. There is no substitute for the wonder and passion that comes to life through hands-on experience. Urban Education Partnership understands that collaboration between teachers, community and parents is vital to expanding the vision every child has for their future. In overcrowded schools with considerable dropout rates, the results are often a poorly educated workforce with little future potential. The Career Academies program facilitates small learning communities to improve those results.

Fremont’s Academy of Travel and Tourism is one of six Career Academies the Urban Education Partnership directs and coordinates. Students spend three to four years in these small learning communities with the same team of teachers, developing a strong sense of affiliation that reduces negative behaviors, such as dropout and gang affiliation, and increases academic achievement. Other workplace experiences include mock interviews, resume writing, business etiquette workshops, and paid internships. Students attend college access seminars, and their academic course sequence centers on classes required for high school graduation and for admission to the California State University and the University of California systems.

Grantee: Pinellas Education Foundation“Francos Stavros Career Education Fund (a.k.a. S.A.V.E.)” - Largo, Floridahttp://www.pinellaseducation.org

The Frances Stavros Career Education Fund Program (also known as the Scholarship for Adult Vocational Excellence – S.A.V.E.) is a scholarship opportunity that serves economically disadvantaged students between the ages of 16 and 24 at the Pinellas Technical Education Centers in Florida. Many of the scholarship recipients

have specific social challenges that may prevent them from achieving their goals. Some of these challenges include pregnancy or parenting responsibilities, foster care, and homelessness.

Many of the young participants do not have long-term goals when they come to the program. After meeting with a counselor, students begin to focus on achieving a technical certification. Upon completion, they enter the workforce in a meaningful, in-demand, and higher-paying job.

“Words cannot express how thankful I am for your generosity. It is because of you and the Frances Stavros Career Education Fund scholarship that I am even able to complete this program. As you can imagine, fees from school can be quite overwhelming. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this amazing opportunity. It will never be forgotten. When I have graduated and I am in an LPN [Licensed Practical Nurse] job, I will always think of you and the huge help you were to me. Thank you for all that you do.”

- Sincerely, Melissa A. Huskey, 2007-2008 scholarship recipient.

The Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) was founded in 1973 to build upon the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson and his belief that “a life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” JRF is a premier education organization which through its Education and Leadership Development Program provides four-year scholarships, mentoring, career guidance and leadership development to talented and driven minority students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend college.

The centerpiece of the JRF program is the annual Scholars’ Networking Weekend, four-days of career panels, leadership workshops, cultural outings and practical life skills training. JRF was able to host a panel on Careers in Engineering and Technology for its STEM majors (students planning to study in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Careers in engineering and technology provide some of the most exciting opportunities available to college graduates today. These fields are on the cutting edge of scientific advancement and human achievement, and spark the imagination of students. JRF Scholars heard from panelists about the options in these fields, while engaging in questions and dialogue that will help them as they begin their own career paths. Scholars in the STEM majors learned valuable tips that will keep them ahead of the curve in these ever-changing and increasingly competitive fields.

Preparing for a Productive Life Impacting the Lives of Others

Grantee: Jackie Robinson Foundation”Education and Leadership Development” - New York, New Yorkhttp://www.jackierobinson.org

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Hope, Dreams, and Future: that is what the Los Angeles Harbor College Fire Instruction, Recruitment and Education (F.I.R.E.) Academy provides the high school students and the communities it serves. The Academy provides its cadets the motivation to finish high school by offering a career objective in the fire service and skills that will aid them in college and in other careers.

The F.I.R.E. Academy gives students a purpose and provides them an opportunity to be a part of something much bigger than themselves. Cadets are encouraged to become Explorers with the Los Angeles City Fire Department so that they may work at fire stations and get hands on experience. Additionally, students learn to work with people from different ethnicities, a new experience for cadets who encounter racial tension in their home schools.

Since 2000, the F.I.R.E. Academy has developed more than 300 responsible young adults. Some of the cadets have gone on to become Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics, while others are being hired by fire departments. It has transformed inexperienced young people into hard working young adults, providing great role models for other young people and for the community.

The best aspect of the academy is how it has shaped the lives of the young cadets who hail from adverse backgrounds. When Captain Mathis asked EMT Omar Estrada what made him stay out of the gang that his friends are in, he replied simply, “You happened.”

Grantee: Los Angeles Harbor College“Fire Instruction, Recruitment and Education (F.I.R.E.) Academy” - Los Angeles, Californiahttp://www.lahc.edu

Lighting a Fire in Young Minds

LITERACY

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Grantee: Rx for Reading“English Language Development Program” - Los Angeles, Californiahttp://www.riordanfoundation.org

Grantee: Education Foundation of Harris County“Science Fiction: Teaching Physics with Children’s Literature” - Houston, Texashttp://www.educationfoundation.info/

Founded in 1989 by former Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan, the mission of the Riordan Foundation is to provide all students, but especially those in low-income communities, with access to a high-quality education that will prepare them to compete successfully in the 21st century.

After the elimination of bilingual education in California, Rx for Reading,

an affiliate of the Riordan Foundation, created the English Language Development (ELD) program. The program was developed as a tool to be used with state-approved English as a Second Language programs to provide the necessary oral and receptive language skills for success in reading and writing instruction. Using technology and commercially available software, the ELD program supports English learners, as well as English-speaking students who need to develop their pre-literacy skills. Instructional software provides feedback, encouragement and individualized instruction at each student’s level and pace, lowering the anxiety that often interferes with language development. The ELD Program is a 75/25 challenge grant available to K-2 classrooms or computer labs in public and parochial schools in Los Angeles County.

When a student at Santa Teresita Elementary School, an ELD Grant recipient, was asked what he enjoyed about the program, the student shared, “I like using the computer to read stories and follow the pictures.”

Since the program’s inception in 1998, Rx for Reading has provided 1,534 computers, correlated instructional software, installation, onsite training, and a five-year warranty to 118 schools and nonprofit organizations.

The vision of the Education Foundation of Harris County – that every child can learn and succeed given opportunity and education – becomes operational in initiatives to strengthen the pedagogical capacity of school teachers. The innovative curriculum design workshop, “Science Fiction: Teaching Physics with Children’s Literature,” equips pre-K to 3rd grade teachers in Harris County’s twenty-six independent school districts to be successful physics instructors.

Many early learners grow up lacking science literacy because teachers are without necessary knowledge content. Changing that equation requires hands-on activities at school tied directly to animals and the characters in books teachers read aloud. With books as a basis, adding lessons plans, supplies, and presentation material enables teachers to replicate “Science Fiction” in the classroom, creating daily moments of inspiration and wonder for children involving gravity, force and motion, heat and thermodynamics, density and buoyancy.

Doing hands-on physics with children based on classroom reading nurtures inquiry and fosters positive attitudes toward science. As reading comprehension grows, elementary school children become more self-directed. Understanding how science and inquiry are related supports children’s ability to observe what is happening around them in the natural world and classify, predict outcomes, and draw conclusions as they play at home, walk to the bus, and share ideas at school.

Science Fiction..and Science FactPrescription for Success

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All children need the knowledge and skills that make up “science literacy” - the ability to understand the world around them. By teaching young students how to observe, collect evidence and draw conclusions, science helps them sharpen their thinking about ideas and events they encounter daily. The lessons that science teaches about cause and effect help students develop critical habits to become compassionate human beings and better able to make informed choices in their personal lives.

Based on a simple and effective Read-Aloud program, the goal of the San Diego, California-based Rolling Readers’ Read Science program is to make science fun and accessible to disadvantaged fourth- and fifth-graders and to encourage them to pursue careers in science or technology. In 2006, the Read Science pilot was launched at Carson Street Elementary School in Carson, California. Once a month, in place of their regular Read-Aloud session, volunteers read their students science-based stories, followed by simple experiments and discussions. Twice during the school year, volunteers present their students with new, hard-cover, science-topic books so they may build their own home libraries and pursue a lifelong interest in reading and scientific inquiry.

“The reason I like Everybody Wins is because they come out of their busy schedule to help kids like me,” says Tyrell, an Everybody Wins! DC Power Lunch student. “They get us to love reading so we can have more to do than being on the streets selling drugs, dying and killing because they care that we grow up to be a upstanding citizen and to even have a future.”

Everybody Wins! DC instills a love of reading and learning in underserved students like Tyrell through several unique programs. Through the Power Lunch program, adult mentors read with student partners once a week at lunchtime. In the Readers Are Leaders program, older students read with younger ones.

The Power Lunch program also brings out the child in its caring adults. Paula, a mentor at Key Elementary School, writes that once a week, when she spends time with “my little guy,” she also gets “to join Curious George

on one of his many mischievous adventures or sail off to a land far away filled with creatures of all kinds.”

Truly, everyone does win – mentors, parents, teachers and community members as well as students. With Readers Are Leaders, 92.9 percent of teachers say they have observed a noticeable improvement in the reading skills of their students as a result of the program.

Developing Science Literacy A Real Power Lunch

Grantee: Rolling Readers USA“Read Science”San Diego, Californiahttp://www.rollingreaders.org

Grantee: Everybody Wins! DC“Power Lunch” and “Readers are Leaders” - Washington, DC

http://www.everybodywins.org

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A child who is blind has an entirely unique perspective on reading and writing. The words come to them through a series of bumps on a page which tickle their fingers and make them laugh out loud. Reading the dots opens a new world to them and encourages their imaginations. Children are curious to know what green means and how high the sky is. So, their teacher lets them smell grass and reach their arms up as high as they can, explaining that grass is the color green and the sky is higher than anyone can reach.

The children at the Blind Children’s Center begin literacy learning and training during infancy. By the time they reach the Center’s Preschool and Kindergarten programs, they are ready for Literacy Preparedness and Braille Training. There is a lot to learn . . . by running their fingers over a page of dots they understand that these strange configurations have meaning and that typing on a Braille machine requires strong fingers and concentration. Their hard work is all worth it when they proudly bring home a message of love to their parents typed in Braille.

The Blind Children Center’s Literacy Program gives children the tools to dream, imagine, and bring the world to life. It gives the community fully functional future dreamers and doers.

A simple pleasure such as reading can also serve as inspiration. As children, reading is a lifeline from struggles and a transport device the reader can take to become lost in someone else’s story. Books are used, often at bedtime, to take young people to a place where they can be whatever they want and life is what they dream it to be: a place that is simply fun.

The children being served by the program have very little inspiration in their lives and very little fun at all. Reading gives them a foundation for learning, it gives them hope.

Program directors recently met yet another group of children in New Orleans who had experienced great loss in their young lives. One little girl, looking quite disappointed about having to spend her Saturday afternoon reading, asked, ”Do I have to learn today?” Emphatically, they responded, “No learning today, just FUN!” She smiled, chose a book, and took a seat!

“For a troubled child living in an institution far from home, it is the ‘little things’ that help calm fears and sadness: sharing a quiet moment with a caring grown-up, sharing a story with a happy ending, snuggling in cozy pajamas at the end of a long day. These are the gifts of our friends from the Pajama Program.”

- Nancy Woodruff Ment, President and CEO, Andrus Children’s Center, Yonkers, NY

Literacy for the Blind Pajama Time

Grantee: Blind Childrens Center“Preschool and Kindergarten Literacy”Los Angeles, Californiahttp://www.blindchildrenscenter.org/

Grantee: Pajama ProgramNew York, New Yorkhttp://www.pajamaprogram.org

MATH

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Imagine a gymnasium full of elementary students and parents measuring the length of a frog’s leap, constructing skyscrapers from straws and toothpicks, fishing for fractions and estimating the number of lollipops in a big bowl. Everyone is having fun – and everyone is doing math!

The anticipation is building as children and their proud parents watch the colored dots fill the “data chart” and teachers cheer as their students walk through the door. Everyone is eager to see which school will have the most dots (attendees) as that school will win the coveted MathFest trophy.

Explorations in Math (EIM) created MathFest to celebrate and promote the successes of elementary students in mathematics. By partnering with elementary schools, including schools in economically-challenged communities, EIM offers a variety of programs including Math Clubs, Monthly Math Challenges, Family Math Nights, Summer Math Camps and Mathematicians-in-Residence.

MathFest

Grantee: Explorations in Math“MathFest” - Seattle, Washingtonhttp://www.explorationsinmath.org

The Business of Learning MathUsing a corporate model, “Math Works, Inc.,” is an innovative math enrichment project developed in 2007 by the New Horizons Family Center’s after-school program staff as a way to get kids excited about math.

Students work in groups as “employees” (“Sales Associates”, “Public Relations Specialists”, “Accountants”, “Board of Directors”) and tour local businesses with their “managers” (teachers) to see how math “figures” in the real world. Then they prepare a presentation for “stockholders” (parents). Students also receive daily help with homework and tutoring (“staff development”). “Performance incentives (points) are awarded for efforts that can be cashed in for “dividends” (rewards) in a “company store.”

The results for the first year exceeded expectations. According to Danny, age 13, “I’m done with math anxiety!” Not only did Danny’s math grade improve, Danny’s mom and participating members of the business community became active stakeholders in his education.

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Grantee: New Horizons Family Center“Math Works, Inc.” - Glendale, Californiahttp://www.newhorizonsfamilycenter.org

“The math goes through your head, to your hands, to the art you are creating. I love making origami.” This fifth grade student was one of 250 students in low-performing elementary schools in Long Beach and Compton, California, who benefited from the Dramatic Results’ InCreasing Math program, an award-winning educational arts integrated program to help students improve their math skills while exploring their creative side.

Through learning the ancient Japanese art of paper folding (origami) and studying its scientific and mathematical applications in today’s world, InCreasing Math allows students to create

original artwork, study the importance of design and planning, conceptualize abstract math concepts and explore unexpected academic and career opportunities. InCreasing Math meets California content standards for both Visual Art and Mathematics, while exploring origami’s applications in the scientific world.

The hands-on, inquiry-based learning resulted in significantly increased test scores (48% to 64%). Of the six Origami-related questions, scores increased significantly (45.8% to 68%). Geometry scores increased significantly as well (46.6% to 62.3%).

In The Fold

Grantee: Dramatic Results“InCreasing Math” - Signal Hill, Californiahttp://www.dramaticresults.org

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SCIENCE

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At Northside Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia, students read about flying brooms, three-headed dogs and potions, and in the process learn lessons about aerodynamics, genetics and chemistry. The creative use of the popular “Harry Potter” book series and other literature loved by young people is part of a curriculum that is designed to simultaneously boost reading and science skills. American Honda Foundation provided resources for the development of this curriculum by a Northside science teacher and a physics professor at Frostburg University in Maryland.

The curriculum was first used in an after-school developmental program, with the added objective of increasing reading and writing scores on state standardized tests. Three years later, Northside Science Department Chair Karen Rogers has carried the program forward into school-day classrooms, and the lab equipment purchased with a portion of American Honda Foundation’s grant funds is enriching the school’s science instruction in a multitude of ways.

Learning with Harry Potter

Preventing ObesityProgram ENERGY (Education, Nutrition, Exercise, and Recreation, for Growing Youth) is a science and health education and enrichment program for elementary school children. Its long-term goal is to effectively reduce rates of obesity and Type-2 diabetes by providing inquiry-based educational enrichment in science and math using disease-related examples and exercises.

In 2005, Program ENERGY achieved three of its goals: 1) add a focus on the prevention of type 2 diabetes, 2) create a bi-monthly (every other week) version of the program to disseminate to additional schools, and 3) implement an after-school program.

Analysis of the data collected showed a more than 50 percent increase in scientific knowledge in the majority of 4th and 6th grade children, while 74 percent of children showed a significant increase in physical activity, measured by pedometer.

The bi-monthly version of Program ENERGY was disseminated to 516 children in 25 classrooms in Colorado, West Virginia, and Texas. Results of data collected from the 2nd graders showed statistically significant increases in knowledge about food and physical activity, as well as in attitudes and behavior. Two interactive after-school programs reached 120 children and parents while other one-time events reached approximately 6,000 individuals.

Grantee: Frostburg State University“Teaching Science Through Literature” - Frostburg, Marylandhttp://www.frostburg.edu

Grantee: Colorado State University“Program Energy” - Fort Collins, Coloradohttp://programenergy.cahs.colostate.edu

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In the schoolyard of Broadview-Thomson Elementary School, a small group of students stares anxiously at the ground. They are waiting for earthworms to emerge from the soil. In a sample area of their schoolyard, the students have poured a slurry of water and dried mustard powder to coax earthworms to the surface. Earlier, the students made a prediction as to where they would find the most worms in their schoolyard habitat. Suddenly, a squeal of delight! “I see one!” a little girl exclaims. “Look, there’s another!” Worms, pink and long, begin to emerge from the ground. The students’ eyes widen in amazement. As the children scurry to carefully pick them up, the chorus of observations continues: “I didn’t know there were worms here!” and, “These worms are slimy!” They proceed with the lesson, the initial excitement and wonder remaining on their smiling faces.

The lesson is called Worm Worlds, one of eight lessons in Seattle Audubon’s Finding Urban Nature (FUN) program. Broadview-Thomson is one of 21 schools that Seattle Audubon has served over the past three years. More than 2,500 students have participated in the FUN program since receiving funding from the American Honda Foundation in 2005.

FUN lessons facilitate an understanding of environmental connections through hands-on, inquiry-based science. The lessons allow students to discover and appreciate birds and nature within their own schoolyard habitat throughout the school year.

Hands-on scientific investigations are acknowledged to be the best way to teach science literacy. Science Buddies supports these activities by providing free science fair project ideas, answers, and tools to teachers, parents, and students from all walks of life. By reducing the hassles of doing a science fair project, Science Buddies aspires to improve project quality and increase science fair participation, turning a good learning experience into a great one.

A recent beneficiary of the Science Buddies program is Corynn Evans, a student at the Palm Avenue Elementary School in San Bernardino, California. After Corynn and her mother discovered Science Buddies, Corynn started using the Topic Selection Wizard (TSW) to find an idea for a project that would hold her interest. An avid animal lover, Corynn used the web site’s Topic Selection Wizard, which guided her to “Paw Preference in Pets.” Because of her love of dogs and abundance of them in her neighborhood, she quickly set to work adapting the Science Buddies Project Idea around her chosen animal.

In the end, her dedication and effort earned her the 2nd place award for the fourth grade, as well as the 2nd place award overall for her school fair. The success at her school fair also earned her a place at the Inland Science and Engineering Fair, where she won a gold medal and a top project sweepstakes award. Corynn says she is looking forward to her next science fair and is already discussing environmental science projects with her father who has a background in water quality and testing.

FUN with Nature

Grantee: Seattle Audubon“Finding Urban Nature (FUN)”Seattle, Washingtonhttp://www.seattleaudubon.org

Tools for a Successful Science Project

Grantee: Science Buddies“Topic Selection Wizard” - Danville, Californiahttp://www.sciencebuddies.org

Project Exploration is a nonprofit science education organization that builds its programs on the belief that wonder and curiosity have the power to transform lives. Founded in 1999 by paleontologist Paul Sereno and educator Gabrielle Lyon to make science accessible, Project Exploration targets Chicago Public School students who have been low and middle achievers, but who are also curious, open-minded, and passionate.

Project Exploration provides intensive science education programs, such as the “All Girls Expedition,” that immerse students from the inner city in a world of academic and personal discovery. By providing young women with the opportunity to explore and participate in the wonders of science, we help students visualize themselves as the ones changing the face of science.

“Being on the All Girls Expedition means girls from different backgrounds prove to people all over the world that women are scientists, and when it comes down to it, they do it well. It means girls working together, learning new things, and helping one another along the way. I will forever be an All Girls Expedition Member.”

- Kassandra, All Girls Expedition Team Member

The innovative exhibition, “Great Women, Great Science,” at the Bruce Museum opens with a 1913 article published in Science and Progress, which asserts that “so-called higher education of women is not a good idea for either woman, man, or the state.” The exhibition brings to life the stories of four extraordinary women who defied such social norms and went on to achieve scientific breakthroughs, including two-time Nobel Prize recipient Marie Curie; astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, who created a classification system for stars; Inge Lehmann, who studied the seismic waves produced by earthquakes; and geneticist Barbara McClintock, discoverer of transposition or “jumping genes.”

At one of the exhibition’s interactive experiment stations, 7-year-old Colleen Bennett shook the base of a miniature town, as a partially collapsed house and fallen evergreens trembled along with a small seismometer that hung under the model’s glass case. Her excitement continued as she used a touch screen that showed current earthquake activity around the world, peered into a large microscope to look at the chromosomes of corn plants, and watched a giant Slinky measure different types of sound waves. These experiences, complemented by archival audio recordings, video clips, and photographs, helped Colleen and other visiting children catch the thrilling spirit of science.

Great Women, Great Science

Grantee: Bruce Museum“’Great Women, Great Science Exhibit” - Greenwich, Connhttp://www.brucemuseum.org

Girls Exploring Science

Grantee: Project Exploration“Youth Development Programs”Chicago, Illinoishttp://www.projectexploration.org

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Curiosity is an innate human attribute that every child possesses in abundance. One of the goals of educators is to foster and nourish this attribute so that it becomes a defining feature of the adult.

“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.”

-Writer, scientist and ecologist, Rachel Carson

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) fosters curiosity by allowing students to experience what it’s like to be a research scientist. In its digital interactive learning center, students are exposed to an authentic

science experience where they are allowed, in essence, to assume the role of a research scientist and explore what it takes to succeed in the position. Why is this person curious about the world? How does this person pose questions? What tools do they use to answer these questions?

Each year 90 percent of the 5th and 6th grade students in

the entire state of Maine participate in the program, free of charge for both the program and transportation. GMRI is learning how to develop new content streams to engage future students and how to replicate its pedagogy to other institutions.

Science is everywhere. Science is for everyone. Science is FUN. Students who get their hands dirty with slime and create mixtures that ‘fizz’ experience the wonderful world of science. The Recruitment In Science Education (RISE) program offers after-school programs to expose students to the wonders of science and the importance of academics.

The RISE mission is to increase diversity in the sciences. To achieve its goal, the organization recruits students from historically under-represented populations in order to expand their interest in science and math. The RISE Program recruits students in the 6th grade and takes the academic journey with them all the way through the completion of high school.

Beginning in middle school, RISE students participate in hands-on science activities that are meant to stimulate their minds and introduce them to science careers while supplementing their classroom science curricula. RISE students also learn responsibility for the environment through planting native plants at their schools and participating in local habitat restoration projects.

RISE students focus not only on science activities, but on good academic planning for the future. RISE students come to understand that success in college begins early. As early as the 8th grade, they are planning their high school course curricula to become more competitive college applicants. RISE students are given the tools to RISE above it!

RISE to the ChallengeFeeding Childish Curiosity

Grantee: Foundation of California State University - Monterey Bay“Recruitment in Science Education (RISE)” - Monterey Bay, Californiahttp://rise.csumb.edu

Grantee: Gulf of Maine Research Institute“LabVenture!” - Portland, Mainehttp://www.gmri.org

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The National Atomic Museum Foundation makes science and math come alive for many New Mexico children. Through the implementation of a new and unique exhibit called “Little Al’s Lab” inside the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, students and families can explore, through experimentation, the world of physics.

“Little Al’s Lab” features a robotic puppet that looks and talks like the legendary physicist Albert Einstein. In the Lab, Little Al answers

questions and inspires learning by encouraging children to play with hands-on exhibits, puzzles, and brainteasers. The Lab has also been the site of several large events for scouts and school students such as the annual engineering fair, as well as a place for after-school fun.

When children enjoy time in Little Al’s lab, they become

connected to things beyond the realm of school study. Through these experiences, new vistas open and future scientists and engineers are made.

The study of physics, mathematics, and science are critical to student excellence in school performance and the National Atomic Museum in its role of informal education center is proud to build the basis for success for our children.

Students in science classes at Perkins School for the Blind see many possibilities. The Perkins science program is designed so that young people can go beyond limitations and difficulties, beyond concerns about what they can’t do, and concentrate on what they might become. At Perkins, vision is about developing an idea of the future and then assembling the tools, knowledge, and personal experiences a young person needs to get there.

One vital tool is a spirit of inquiry. In Perkins’ classrooms students are scientists. They ask questions, collect information, and solve problems. They work in teams to evaluate evidence and explore alternative

explanations. In this process, they develop an understanding of the physical world and how it works. They also develop a new sense for the things they can do and accomplish. It is a process as old as the Greeks and Mesopotamians, the act of exploring and understanding the world stimulates the seeker and develops his or her capacities to do even more.

A key personal experience for Perkins’ students is the presence of role models. The Perkins science program engages a network of adults with vision impairments who have found success in the world of science. They confirm and reinforce

the visions the students are creating for themselves. Students find that behind every high profile scientist there is a dedicated team of research assistants and technicians—a wide variety of opportunities for enterprising young people.

Seeing Your PotentialLearning Science from Little Al

Grantee: National Atomic Museum Foundation“Little Al’s Lab” - Albuquerque, New Mexicohttp://www.nuclearmuseum.org

Grantee: Perkins School for the BlindWatertown, Massachusettshttp://www.perkins.org

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Think Squad is a collaboration between Detroit Public Television, YouthVille Detroit, and the Detroit Science Center (DSC). The project addresses the wide and increasing gap between children’s understanding of the sciences and the knowledge that is necessary to prepare them for fulfilling jobs in the future. In so doing, it helps ensure that southeast Michigan will remain competitive in the global economy.

Think Squad is built around a television program geared toward getting kids interested in science careers and scientific problem-solving. It is “Bill Nye the Science Guy” meets “CSI” for kids. In each episode, kids from YouthVille get a scientific challenge from one of their peers, referred to as “the Client.” To solve the challenge kids use the familiar elements of the scientific method – Observation, Hypothesis, Experimentation, and Conclusion.

The “Squad” first visits a science professional on the job to observe their career and learn more about the scientific principle around which that day’s “mystery” is based. After building a hypothesis for solving the mystery, the Think Squad then travels to the DSC to put its theory to the test. In a series of experiments, a member of the Think Squad is assisted by a DSC professional to verify or disprove the working hypothesis.

Final results are reported back to YouthVille and the story ends with the Leader of the Think Squad summarizing their results for the Client. However, instead of just stating the conclusion in a matter of fact way, the Leader encourages the Client to solve their own mystery for themselves. And sometimes, as it is in life, the scientific mystery takes a backseat to the larger life issues the Client is dealing with. In either case, each show concludes with a new mystery solved and a new member of the Think Squad.

As North Dakota’s only hands-on science center, Gateway to Science began as a vision of community volunteers who were passionate about bringing informal science learning opportunities to people of all ages. Celebrating its 15th anniversary in November 2009, the program is committed to delivering high quality science experiences that are exciting, challenging, sociable, and highly rewarding.

While working with schools in the region, program designers found that many students are not exposed to laboratory experiences until the 7th grade, which may be too late to influence their course decisions. Laboratory experience is needed to encourage elementary students to explore the wonders of science.

The Center’s long-range plans include the expansion of their facility and the addition of a laboratory classroom. In the meantime, American Honda Foundation’s support has enabled Gateway to Science to transform any room into a laboratory to provide today’s young students with opportunities to learn science in a laboratory setting. The mobile laboratory carts provide students with the tools of science, which are as important as providing reading and writing.

Gateway to Learning

Bill Nye Meets CSI

Grantee: Detroit Educational Television Foundation“Think Squad” - Detroit, Michiganhttp://www.dptv.org

Grantee: Gateway to ScienceBismarck, North Dakotahttp://www.gscience.org/gateway

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Higher Achievement’s mission is to develop academic skills, behaviors, and attitudes in academically motivated and underserved middle school children to improve their grades, test scores, attendance, and opportunities – resulting in acceptance to college preparatory high schools.

While the participating students bring to the table a desire and motivation to learn, Higher Achievement provides them with the opportunities to explore through its Science in the Summer program.

In Chioma’s 5th grade application to Higher Achievement, she explained her passion for chemistry. “There are so many possibilities with chemistry; you never know what you could create!” During her first Summer Academy, she would not only visit a university for the first time, but also work with a chemistry professor and do experiments! In the Washington College science lab, Chioma

made glowing slime, caused a soda bottle to deflate, and learned all of the chemistry principles behind these reactions. Now a sixth grader, Chioma’s love for chemistry is thriving. Every Sunday morning, she wakes up before her family to perform her own experiments, and her science grade has jumped from a C to a B.

There are hundreds more scholars like Chioma who are eager for the opportunity to study science rigorously. Science in the Summer ignites an interest in the students to understand the world around them, ask critical questions, and even pursue science in higher education and a career. Each grade focuses on specific themes throughout the summer: environmental science, astronomy, evolution and genetics, and physics. All scholars learn through an engaging, hands-on approach, and as a result, Higher Achievement cultivates the scientific minds of the future.

The Scholars of Summer

Grantee: Higher Achievement Program, Inc.“Science in the Summer” - Washington, DChttp://www.higherachievement.org

STEM

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For many students, the bell signaling the end of school is the most anticipated three seconds of the day. Imagine, however, those who might not have anyone waiting for them when they get home. The Merrimack College’s Lawrence Math and Science Partnership offers a meaningful alternative to disadvantaged latch-key children, as well as an opportunity to enjoy learning about math and science in a community where academic resources are stretched far too thin.

The wonder of math and science is brought to life for 180 middle-school youth through this unique initiative, which pairs undergraduate service-learning students with middle-school youth at several community agencies in Lawrence, Massachusetts. For twenty weeks during the school year, middle-school students are provided after-school academic enrichment by trained Merrimack College undergraduates and faculty.

In one project, students prepared posters to present their favorite lessons from the semester. According to Joshue, a 6th grader from the Blessed Stephen Bellesini O.S.A. Academy, in Lawrence, the best part of the program is that “we get to do more experiments and have a lot of fun.” His poster described the method for freezing ice cream in a room temperature environment. It was featured at an annual “Poster Night” hosted by Merrimack College during which Partnership youth, their parents, and the college’s undergraduates illustrated their experiments. After completing high school, Joshue says he wants to attend MIT because he’s heard it’s a “good school” for technology.

Robbinsdale Area Schools “Tools for Tomorrow” aims to improve the number of female and minority students excelling in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at Robbinsdale Middle School. It also aims to increase the number of students taking STEM coursework at the high school and postsecondary levels.

In 2007, 125 out of 201 students in the school’s technology-focused elective classes were female or minority students. These classes had a failure rate of less than one percent, and teachers reported increased student motivation and participation. Examples of technology-focused electives included Future Cities, Robotics, Innovation and Invention, and Podcasting 101.

A particular successful component of the program was the “Tech buggies” that include a mobile workstation, digital projector, document camera, and Sympodium interactive display. In the first six months of their availability, usage rose considerably each month. “Tech buggies” were used by students to brainstorm ideas, share prototypes, and make presentations.

In addition, ten student “lab assistants” assisted their peers in technology classes by helping them manage their network drive and tutoring them on software such as Autodesk Inventor, Microsoft PowerPoint, and West Point Bridge Builder. A lab assistant from the podcasting elective course helped 24 students from a third grade class to record podcasts of their Spanish stories.

Tools for TomorrowStaying After School

Grantee: Merrimack College“Lawrence Math and Science Partnership” - North Andover, Massachusettshttp://www.merrimack.edu

Grantee: Robbinsdale Area School District“Tools for Tomorrow” - Minneapolis, Minnesotahttp://www.rdale.org

Dreaming is easy, but taking the steps to make dreams come true is often much harder, especially for children with economic and educational barriers. Children are imaginative and adventurous by nature; they are dreamers who are eager to learn. Many children dream of being the astronaut who finds life on another planet, the scientist who makes a world-changing discovery, or the engineer who builds the first lifelike robot.

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®), Ohio’s oldest and largest community college, offers the Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) to foster the interests and achievement of underserved children. SEMAA opens the door to underrepresented youth in the areas of science, engineering, mathematics and aerospace through hands-on activities that bring concepts to life, in

terms children can understand. SEMAA’s ultimate goal is to increase the number of students from identified populations who enroll in technology-related majors in college. Serving approximately 1,100 students each year, the program offers a hands-on, inquiry-based, cooperative learning environment during in-school, after-school, summer and Saturday sessions.

Tri-C recognizes that an educated, diverse and capable workforce is critical to Cleveland, a city continuing to strive for economic recovery. Tri-C also recognizes that building this workforce means removing educational barriers and starting children on the path of discovery early. It is by helping the dreams of children come true that SEMAA can support the economic growth and recovery of the region.

The tenth campus of the Florida State University System, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is dedicated to the education of the students of Southwest Florida. It is within this environment that Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science (GEMS), a hands-on program for middle school girls, was launched. Female professionals, undergraduate, and graduate students serve as facilitators and role models in a girls-only environment to mentor, support, and encourage middle school girls from the 51% ethnically diverse public school population. GEMS reaches out to all girls throughout the community in a two-county area surrounding FGCU.

GEMS provides a launching pad to develop an early interest in science and provide an impetus for higher education and careers for girls of all ethnicities. The ratio of university students and science faculty/professionals to participants – at approximately 1:10 – allows for young girls to have greater opportunities for direct interaction and facilitation. The GEMS project includes Fall and Spring Saturday Conferences and a week-long Summer Academy with hands-on laboratories led by science professionals in areas such as molecular biology, ornithology, forensic anthropology, medicine, bioengineering, civil engineering, mathematics, chemistry, and astronomy.

GEMS serves more than 400 girls annually using hands-on science providing an active laboratory experience for student participants to engage in active experimentation. In short, each participant gets to “be a scientist.” Importantly, a number of middle school teachers take part in the events and are able to take ideas back to their schools.

GEMS on Florida’s Gulf Coast

Grantee: Florida Gulf Coast University“Girls in Engineering, Math and Science”Ft. Myers, Floridahttp://www.fgcu.edu

Building Cleveland’s Future

Grantee: Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®)“Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA)” Cleveland, Ohiohttp://www.tri-c.edu

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An Intrepid Education

Technology is the Answer

Grantee: Intrepid Museum Foundation“Propel Yourself Forward” - New York, New Yorkhttp://www.intrepidmuseum.org

Students approach the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum with awe. Looking up at the enormous 42,000-ton aircraft carrier, students ask “What planes will we see?” Hearing the squeak of their sneakers on the steel decks they wonder “How does the ship float?” and “Can we feel it move?”

The Museum’s educators encourage students to investigate, observe, and hypothesize. Intrepid presents a unique opportunity to learn in a place where history happened. Exploring the Museum’s core science themes of water, space, and flight, students are surrounded by aircraft and artifacts, with the Hudson River as a backdrop. The Museum’s

program seeks to excite young minds, to spark curiosity, and to open the eyes of visiting students to careers in science and technology.

Testing the salinity of a Hudson River water sample, a 4th grader exclaimed, “Mine is 22 ppt. It’s an estuary!” When asked what he learned, he responded, “We need to protect rivers and oceans

and the plants and animals that live there.”

The Museum’s science programs receive accolades from students and teachers alike, who find that Intrepid’s innovative teaching enhances their own classroom lessons. In a city where one-third of the science teachers are not licensed to teach science, the Intrepid Museum opens new horizons to thousands of students.

The Tech Museum of Innovation has a simple mission: to educate and to inspire. Located in the heart of the Silicon Valley, the museum offers more than 250 interactive exhibits, seven unique science labs, math tutoring, teacher development, 14 educational IMAX films, and a variety of engineering design challenges.

One of The Tech Museum’s annual signature programs is called “The Tech Challenge,” a team science and math competition that introduces and reinforces the scientific process to more than 1,000 students in grades five through 12. Through a hands-on project that challenges them over a period of several months, students design, build, document, and present a solution to a real-world problem. The purpose of the program is to actively engage young people from all socio-economic backgrounds in exploring and learning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts through an inquiry-based, non-linear, solution-focused process.

Each year, students select a challenge scenario inspired by real engineering challenges. To date, more than 12,000 youth have honed their creative skills to create inventions that manually pump water to villages in Africa, fight wildfires, collect vegetation samples from the rain forest and maneuver robotic vehicles over the rough terrain of Mars.

One of the most successful challenges was to design a simple low-cost device that would safely deliver sensor packages (represented by ping pong balls) to a specific target inside a volcano. The day-long contest, featured nearly 250 colorfully attired teams with more than 1,000 students participating and nearly 4,000 people in attendance.

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Grantee: The Tech Museum of Innovation“Tech Challenge” - San Jose, Californiahttp://www.thetech.org

Girls Empowered by Mathematics and Science (GEMS) is an academic program for middle and high school girls conducted at Winston-Salem State University. In keeping with the university and departmental mission – to develop in students the skills and values needed to contribute to and succeed in the changing economy of the 21st Century – this program is designed to provide girls with engaging, hands-on activities that promote positive attitudes, self-esteem, and performance in mathematics and science.

GEMS activities do not mirror typical school mathematics instruction. Instead, they are fun, meaningful, and full of real-life applications. For example, GEMS partnered with a computer manufacturer to learn how mathematics and science plays a role in the development of computers. In addition, GEMS students participated in a Sonia Kovalevsky Day, where they explored the contributions of women in mathematics and investigated ways in which STEM careers play a part in solving global issues.

Parental and participant feedback revealed that these activities yielded the most positive experience for participants during the academic year. Participants’ pre-test scores indicated a higher positive attitude toward science than toward mathematics. However, after participating in the program, they felt moderately strong about their enjoyment of mathematics and strongly about their math abilities. GEMS aims to further impact the enthusiasm students have about learning mathematics and their interest in pursuing a degree and career in a STEM-related field.

A GEM in the Making

39

Grantee: Winston-Salem State University“Girls Empowered by Mathematics and Science”Winston-Salem, North Carolinahttp://myweb.wssu.edu/johnsondt/GEMS.htm

TECHNOLOGY

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“Why does our car drink gas?” a child might ask while his or her parents fill up the family car. The Solar Car class at High Tech High Los Angeles (HTHLA) was started with the goal of studying the emerging energy crisis and exploring alternative energy sources for transportation. HTHLA is a public California Distinguished High School dedicated to fusing traditional academic subjects with real-world, technical applications and problem-solving skills.

The goal of HTHLA’s Solar Car class is to create a renewable-energy commuter car (RECC), built by the students. Along with this vehicle, the students are concurrently creating their own renewable energy community awareness program. Topics the students have studied include the economic implications of our continued energy needs, the science behind photovoltaics, the engineering process, the physics of motors and the chemistry of batteries.

Importantly, the students also learn that solutions do not come easily, either in the global energy crisis or in their own project, as they struggle through challenging problems on their path to creating the RECC. Beginning with smaller projects, like solar-powered remote-control cars, the students subsequently created larger solar devices, including solar-powered pool skimmers, boom boxes, and finally solar cycle vehicles.

“Without taking the solar car class course, I would be ignorant of the problem that the world I live in is currently facing.” – HTHLA student

Powering the Future

Getting Serious About the Fun of Science

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Grantee: High Tech High Los Angeles“Robotics After-School/Summer Program” - Los Angeles, Californiahttp://www.hthla.org

Why is it traditionally so difficult to get children interested in science? The program Students Making Another Science Success Story (SMASSS) would suggest that it is a simple matter of proving that science can be fun.

SMASSS is a three-year program with academic year and summer camp components which includes hands-on activities, field trips, and career awareness. A unique aspect of the program is its focus on the same cohort of students for three years, from 8th through 10th grades. Initially, 42 percent of program participants indicated that they were moderately to very interested in science. After two years in the program, interest levels increased to 92 percent, with 75 percent of participants indicating that SMASSS changed their feelings about learning science.

Another achievement of SMASSS is its ability to increase the number of students participating in science competitions, an enterprise associated with increasing critical and analytical thinking. Prior to joining SMASSS, only two percent of program participants had participated in a science competition other than a science fair. In its first year, the program had 56 percent of students participating in pilot events of the Eastern Region Science Decathlon, with five students receiving first, second and third place awards. In 2008, SMASSS sent four teams to compete in the Eastern Region Science Decathlon Conference – with two teams qualifying to compete in the National Science Decathlon.

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Grantee: North Carolina Central University“Students Making Another Science Success Story” - Durham, North Carolinahttp://www.nccu.edu

With the growing demand for higher grades and improved test scores, school children today lack the experiential educational activities that make learning not only enjoyable, but memorable.

Capturing a child’s interest to pursue higher degrees and careers in the fields of science and engineering is even more difficult with today’s home environment filled with advanced video games and other high tech gadgets.

Enter the Future Scientists and Engineers of America (FSEA) program, where children are drawn into a club environment after school each week. Here, children who are still questioning the world around them, can work with peers on projects that lead to answers, one experience at a time.

To start, a box of materials is brought into the classroom. No directions and no answers are provided. Rather, children learn by doing. The finished product might be a pendulum clock, an electric circuit, or a solar-powered car. It is a whole new way of reinforcing what is taught in the classroom, and a teamwork exercise that children will never forget. Club members may even design, build, test, and uncover the science and engineering behind their own electronic gadgets. In addition, events such as a pumpkin launch at a university, or a bottle rocket launch on the grounds of a major aerospace company, can give club members a look at where their hard work can take them in

the future.

Through the FSEA program, more students will realize their potential and start down a path to career success, while also creating lasting benefits for society.

Founded in 1998, Reach the World (RTW) is the nation’s only nonprofit organization to provide under-funded, low-performing public schools with access to online journeys through an interactive website. Reach the World enriches the school day far beyond the walls of the classroom by connecting students to travelers who are on actual journeys around the globe.

Ms. Rochez, a second grade teacher in the Bronx, embraced the idea of bringing real-world experiences into her rigorous curriculum through Reach the World. To teach buoyancy, Ms. Rochez had her students build their own boats while following a real sailing voyage around the world on RTW’s website. “What I like about RTW is that I’m able to bring creativity back into my curriculum,” said Ms. Rochez. “Not only did going on a field trip to visit the ship create a real-world connection for my students, but now I can integrate interesting activities into the English and math test prep that consumes my class’s whole day! “

Reach the World is developing a Learning Standards online engine that will allow teachers like Ms. Rochez to use projects like this in their curriculum. This engine will automatically correlate the content on the RTW website with the Learning Standards, allowing teachers to easily use a much broader range of material in their teaching, and bring learning back to life for students across the nation.

Bringing the World into the Classrooms

Encouraging Future Scientists

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Grantee: Discovery Science Center“Future Scientists and Engineers of America”Santa Ana, Californiahttp://www.discoverycube.org/fsea.aspx

Grantee: Reach the WorldLearning Standards ToolNew York, New Yorkhttp://www.reachtheworld.org

Visit one of the 20 Massachusetts middle schools where DESIGNLAB programs are being piloted and you will see kids engaged in learning —experimenting, drawing, building, testing and troubleshooting — doing real-world problem solving and having fun at the same time.

UMass Lowell’s DESIGNLAB after school science and engineering workshops allow students to design and build their own fun inventions – like nighttime Frisbees, electric carnival games, spin art machines, secret candy safes, and even cool “animatronic” animals.

DESIGNLAB teaches students the design process and tools skills, helping them understand science and technology concepts more deeply because they use the ideas to solve design challenges. But don’t tell them that! It would be hard to believe these young 6th and 7th grade engineers were in school based on their comments: “I wish we could do this everyday. I really love coming to our engineering class.”

The risk in having schools become so solely focused on standards-based testing is that many students and teachers have forgotten how exciting and engaging learning can be; but DESIGNLAB reminds them. One teacher new to the program remarked: “It is so nice to have kids discover the joy of learning - for learning’s sake. Here we’re not trying to fit a lesson into a framework or worrying about how this will be reflected in their test scores. The kids are free to try things for themselves and to learn from their experiences.

We don’t have time to do that in the regular classroom”.

Techbridge, a program of Chabot Space & Science Center, changes lives one girl at a time, through consistent, personal support and a dedication to increasing their choices for the future. Techbridge serves girls in after-school programs in Northern California, improving their technical and scientific skills, increasing their confidence and leadership skills, and expanding their interest in science and engineering careers.

Recognizing the importance of building a strong network of support for girls, Techbridge also provides resources to teachers, families and other role models as a key to the program’s success, helping expand girls’ options and encouraging students to think about and plan for the future.

For Techbridge, success is creating a spark that excites every girl about technology, science, and engineering, and encourages them to discover their own potential.

Techbridge success stories include a middle school girl who was failing until her encounter with Techbridge. As a result of the connection she made with her teachers and the enthusiasm she acquired for science, her grades have improved to the B level. Another example is a sophomore at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who discovered a passion for mechanical engineering through her participation in Techbridge. Recognizing the benefits of the role models she met through the program, she gives back and serves as a mentor to the next generation of Techbridge girls.

Introducing Girls to ScienceLearning through Invention

Grantee: University of Massachusetts Lowell“DESIGNLAB” - Lowell, Massachusettshttp://www.umlfutureengineers.org

Grantee: Chabot Space and Science Center “Techbridge” - Oakland, Californiahttp://www.chabotspace.com

FINANCIALS STATISTICS &

44

$200,000$400,000$600,000$800,000$1,000,000$1,200,000$1,400,000$1,600,000$1,800,000$2,000,000

1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009

$5,000,000

$10,000,000

$15,000,000

$20,000,000

$25,000,000

$30,000,000

$35,000,000

Annual Giving Endowment

Annual Giving vs. Endowment

An

nu

al Givin

g

En

do

wm

ent

Annual Giving vs. Endowment

Ethnic Minority Giving

Twenty-five Years of Giving

Grants Awarded by State1984-2009

States funded

519 Grants = $25,040,888

More than 58% Ethnic Minorities served

CaucasianEthnic Minorities 58 %

42%

1984 - 2009

45

CaucasianHispanic/LatinoAfrican American

Asian/Pacific Islander

Native American

Other

32%

29%

26%

6%

4%

3%

Engineering

7% Environment

10%Job Training

7%

Literacy8%

Mathematics

15%

Other

6%

Science 42%

Technology

5%

Giving by Focus Area

More than 2 million beneficiaries

Beneficiaries

Ethnic Minority Giving

2005 - 2009Grants Awarded

Total Giving: $8,030,325

More than 74% Ethnic Minorities served

46

FINANCIALS

AMERICAN HONDA FOUNDATION STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

at March 31, 2009

Fiscal Year2009

ASSETS

Cash $ 1,120Prepaid Expenses 17,992

Investments - Fair Market Value 25,793,394

TOTAL ASSET 25,812,506

LIABILITIES

Current Liabilities

Account Payable 5,973 Account Expenses 20,952

26,925

NET ASSETS, UNRESTRICTED 25,785,581

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS $ 25,812,506

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AMERICAN HONDA FOUNDATION STATEMENTS OF ACTIVITIES

For the Fiscal Years Ended March 31, 2009

Fiscal Year2009

REVENUES

Contributed Services $ 176,465Investment Income (Loss), Net (9,363,474)

Other Income 16,700 Total Revenues and Gains (Losses) (9,170,309)

EXPENSES

Grants & Administrative Expenses 1,962,943

Taxes on Investments 66,529Total Expenses 2,029,472

Change in Net Assets (11,199,781)

BEGINNING FUND BALANCE 36,985,362

ENDING FUND BALANCE $ 25,785,581

FINANCIALS

48

GRANTEE LISTING2005 - 2009

49

Organization City State Website9Health Fair Denver CO http://www.9healthfair.org

Algalita Marine Research Foundation Long Beach CA http://www.algalita.org

Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools Los Angeles CA http://www.laalliance.org

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Washington DC http://www.transportation.org

Aquatic Adventures Science Education Foundation San Diego CA http://www.aquaticadventures.org

Berea Community Middle School Berea KY http://.www.berea.kyschools.us

Blind Childrens Center Los Angeles CA http://www.blindchildrenscenter.org

Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment Brooklyn NY http://www.basehighschool.net

Bruce Museum of Arts and Science Greenwich CT http://www.brucemuseum.org

California State University Monterey Bay Foundation Seaside CA http://rise.csumb.edu

Center for Science Teaching and Learning Rockville Centre NY http://www.CSTL.org

Chabot Space & Science Center Oakland CA http://www.techbridgegirls.org

Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science Los Angeles CA http://www.cdrewu.edu

Chicago Botanic Garden Glencoe IL http://www.chicagobotanic.org

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Cincinnati OH http://www.cincyzoo.org

College Bound Cerritos CA http://collegeboundca.org

College Summit Washington DC http://www.collegesummit.org

Colorado State University Foundation Fort Collins CO http://www.csurf.org

Cristo Rey Network Newton MA http://www.cristoreynetwork.org

Cuyahoga Community College Foundation Cleveland OH http://www.tri-c.edu/pathways/pages/semaa.aspx

Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Service Organizations Dallas TX http://dallasconcilio-org.web22.winsvr.net

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston MA http://www.dana-farber.org

Detroit Educational Television Foundation Wixom MI http://www.dptv.org

2005 - 2009GRANTEE LISTING

50

2005 - 2009GRANTEE LISTING

Organization City State Website Discovery Science Center Santa Ana CA http://www.discoverycube.org

Dramatic Results Signal Hill CA http://www.dramaticresults.org

Eastern Michigan University Foundation Ypsilanti MI http://www.emufoundation.org

Education Foundation of Harris County Houston TX http://www.educationfoundation.info

Educational Service District 105 Yakima WA http://www.esd105.wednet.edu

Everybody Wins! DC, Inc. Washington DC http://www.everybodywinsdc.org

Explora Science Center Albuquerque NM http://www.explora.us

Explorations In Math Seattle WA http://www.explorationsinmath.org

Florida Gulf Coast University, College of Arts & Sciences Ft. Meyers FL http://www.fgcu.edu

Front Range Community College Foundation Westminster CO http://frontrange.edu

Frostburg State University Foundation Frostburg MD http://www.frostburg.edu/admin/foundation

Galef Institute Los Angeles CA http://www.differentways.org/galef

Gateway to Science Bismarck ND http://www.gscience.org

Gulf of Maine Research Institute Portland ME http://www.gmri.org

Harlem Children Society New York NY http://www.harlemchildrensociety.org

Heritage Health Foundation Braddrock PA http://www.hhfi.org/4kids

High Tech High – Los Angeles Beverly Hills CA http://www.hthla.org

Higher Achievement, Inc. Washington DC http://www.higherachievement.org

Hollygrove Los Angelels CA http://hollygrove.org

Intrepid Museum Foundation New York NY http://www.intrepidmuseum.org

Jackie Robinson Foundation New York NY http://www.jackierobinson.org

KISS Institute for Practical Robtics Norman OK https://botball.kipr.org

Los Angeles Harbor College Foundation Wilmington CA http://www.lahc.edu

Madison Children’s Museum Madison WI http://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org

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Organization City State Website McHenry County Regional Office of Education Woodstock IL http://www.mchenry.k12.il.us

Memphis Academy of Health Sciences Memphis TN http://www.mahsmiddleandhigh.com

Merrimack College North Andover MA http://www.merrimack.edu

Metropolitan School District of Washington Township Indianapolis IN http://www.msdwt.k12.in.us

Milwaukee Science Education Consortium, Inc. Milwaukee WI http://www.milwaukeeacademyofscience.org

MIND Research Institute Santa Ana CA http://mindinstitute.net

MK Level Playing Field Institute San Francisco CA http://www.lpfi.org

Montana State University Foundation Bozeman MT http://www.montana.edu/foundation

National Aquarium in Baltimore Baltimore MD http://www.aqua.org

National Atomic Museum Foundation Albuquerque NM http://www.atomicmuseum.com

National Federation of the Blind Baltimore MD http://www.nfb.org

National Inventors Hall of Fame Inc. Burbank CA http://www.invent.org

National Wildlife Federation Boulder CO http://www.nwf.org

New Haven Ecology Project New Haven CT http://www.commongroundct.org

New Horizons Family Center Glendale CA http://www.newhorizonsfamilycenter.org

New Mexico State University Las Cruces NM http://www.nmsu.edu

New York Hall of Science Queens NY http://www.nyscience.org

North Carolina A & T State University Greenboro NC http://www.ag.ncat.edu

North Carolina Central University Foundation Durham NC http://www.nccu.edu

O’Neill Sea Odyssey Santa Cruz CA http://www.oneillseaodyssey.org

Pajama Program New York NY http://www.pajamaprogram.org

Perkins School For The Blind Watertown MA http://www.Perkins.org

Pinellas Education Foundation Largo FL http://www.PinellasEducation.org

2005 - 2009GRANTEE LISTING

52

Organization City State Website Project Exploration Chicago IL http://www.projectexploration.org

Project Tomorrow Irvine CA http://www.tomorrow.org/about/about.html

Reach the World New York NY http://www.reachtheworld.org

Robbinsdale Area Schools New Hope MN http://www.rdale.k12.mn.us

Rolling Readers USA San Diego CA http://www.rollingreaders.org

Rx for Reading Los Angeles CA http://www.riordanfoundation.org

Safe Futures Youth Center Seattle WA http://www.sfyc.net

School on Wheels Los Angeles CA http://www.schoolonwheels.org

Science Buddies Danville CA http://www.sciencebuddies.org

Seattle Aquarium Society Seattle WA http://www.seattleaquarium.org

Seattle Audubon Society Seattle WA http://www.seattleaudubon.org

Sequatchie County Schools Dunlap TN http://www.sequatchie.k12.tn.us

South End Technology Center Boston MA http://www.tech-center-enlightentcity.tv

Springfield Urban League Springfield IL http://www.springfieldul.org

Teachers Academy of Mathematics and Science Chicago IL N/A

Teton Science School Kelly WY http://www.tetonscience.org

Texas State University, San Marcos San Marcos TX http://www.txstate.edu

Texas Tech University Lubbock TX http://www.ttu.edu

The Catholic University of America Washington DC http://www.cua.edu

The College Crusade of Rhode Island Providence RI http://www.thecollegecrusade.org

The Heard Museum Phoenix AZ http://www.heard.org

The Tech Museum of Innovation San Jose CA http://www.thetech.org

Third Way Center Denver CO http://www.thirdwaycenter.org

United Negro College Fund Los Angeles CA http://www.uncf.org

2005 - 2009GRANTEE LISTING

53

Organization City State Website University of Alabama Birmingham AL http://www.uab.edu

University of Maryland, College Park College Park MD http://www.umd.edu

University of Massachusetts, Lowell Lowell MA http://www.umlfutureengineers.org

Urban Education Partnership Los Angeles CA http://www.laep.org

Virginia Tech Foundation Blacksburg VA http://www.vtf.vt.edu

Wallowa Resources, Inc. Enterprise OR http://www.wallowaresources.org

Wichita State University Foundation Wichita KS http://www.wichita.edu/foundation

Winston-Salem State University Winston NC http://www.wssu.edu

2005 - 2009GRANTEE LISTING

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The following individuals and firms contributed their services to the production of this publication:

A special thanks to all grantees for contributing their stories and providing photographs which chronicle the invaluable work these organizations provide in the community.

Editorial, Design Production & AssistanceAlexandra WarnierDonna Hammond

Nichole WhitleyCeleste Catalano

Design & Printing American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Design Studio 540

Tatiana Ortiz Diane Briones

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Print ShopMark Melheim

Writing Andrew Woods & Andy Boyd, Andrew Woods & Associates, LLC

Photography Members of the American Honda Photo Club

Don Lofthouse (cover) Ivy Kakamasu

Karen Cassimatis (inside cover) Mary Sue Roberts

Melanie Lanoie

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PERSPECTIVESThrough the Eyes of a Child

2005-2009

©2010 American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Printed on recycled paper

1919 Torrance Blvd. Mail Stop 100-1W-5ATorrance, CA 90501-2746

www.foundation.honda.com

Celebrating YearsAmerican Honda Foundation

CelebratingCelebratingCelebrating YearsYearsAmerican Honda FoundationCelebrating Years

Am

eric

an Honda Foundation