Motorola Foundation Funds Florida STEM Projects
For the fifth year, the Motorola
Solutions Foundation will
fund grants to Florida school districts with projects for students that
foster
and support initiatives involving science, technology, engineering and
math
(STEM). The Motorola foundation will give a large grant to the Consortium of
Florida Education Foundations (CFEC), which will
oversee the projects and
distribute the funding to districts.
"A
critical
component of engaging today's students and encouraging them to
consider careers in the STEM arena is providing hands-on learning
opportunities,"
said CFEF President Mary Chance. "The Motorola Solutions Foundation
gives
students the chance to truly understand how classroom curriculum
translates
into real world employment."
Over
the previous four
years, Motorola distributed an average of $50,000 per year in $5,000
Innovation
Generation grants. As a consequence, 39 projects in Florida schools were
completed involving more than 11,000 students. Priority is given to
projects
that involve girls and underrepresented minorities. Past projects have
involved
students engineering human-powered submarines, using phytoremediation to
remove poisonous arsenic from soil and developing new mobile apps.
The Motorola
Solutions Foundation is the charitable and philanthropic arm of Motorola
Solutions and the CFEC is an organization of more than 60 educational
foundations
throughout the state working to build public-private partnerships to
improve
education for Florida students.
"Organizations
like
the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations are teaching tomorrow's
leaders
that careers in engineering and technology are not only fun, but also
within
their reach," said Matt Blakely, director of the Motorola Solutions
Foundation.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.