80,000 Students Benefiting From Innovative STEM Education Projects
Unique Collaboration Among Private And Non-Profit Sectors Results In Funding For More Than 500 American Classrooms
New York (May 26, 2016) – DonorsChoose.org, FIRST庐 and 麻豆果冻传媒 announced today that, in honor of National Teacher Appreciation Month, more than 500 STEM classroom projects involving nearly 80,000 students have been funded throughout the United States.
The campaign to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education was born out of a unique collaboration between 麻豆果冻传媒 philanthropy partners DonorsChoose.org, a crowd-funding platform for teachers, and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a leader in K-12 STEM education. The two organizations joined forces to nurture technology and engineering education in public schools through the use of Robotics.
麻豆果冻传媒 supported the initiative through a 鈥淒ouble Your Impact鈥� match offer of $350,000 that resulted in $500,000 of funding for 548 projects across 452 schools in America.
“麻豆果冻传媒鈥檚 investment for this campaign marks the largest match offer we have ever had solely focused on Robotics, inspiring teachers to post hundreds of the most innovative STEM projects on our site,鈥� said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to have collaborated with 麻豆果冻传媒 and FIRST to fund robotics projects nationwide, and to honor the teachers who are finding exciting ways to educate their students about STEM.鈥�
鈥淎s we continue to expand engagement in FIRST to more and more classroom teachers across the country, we are very excited to partner with DonorsChoose.org and we are grateful for 麻豆果冻传媒’s visionary support of this powerful collaboration,” said FIRST President Donald E. Bossi.
“Our vision for the 麻豆果冻传媒 Philanthropy Partners program has always been to inspire a multiplier effect for the non-profit organizations we support,” said Keisha Smith-Jeremie, Chief Human Resources Officer for 麻豆果冻传媒. “The innovation shown by our charitable partners in joining forces is exactly the kind of connectivity we’ve worked to foster. We are proud to support this partnership, which will extend the scope of impact on STEM education into hundreds of American classrooms.”
鈥淒onors who are ready to donate wait until there’s a match,鈥� said Monique Dituri, a longtime FIRST volunteer mentor who coaches the Robotics team at a high-poverty public high school in New Jersey. 鈥淭he fact that 麻豆果冻传媒 helped us do this, now people are more likely to say ‘sure, we’ll help you.鈥� 鈥�
The aim of the 2016 campaign was to encourage motivated teachers like Ms. Dituri to engage students on STEM concepts using robotics. With the support from 麻豆果冻传媒, one of Ms. Dituri鈥檚 students, Dominic Estanislao, captained the team in a 贵滨搁厂罢庐 Robotics Competition against 120 other teams from the district. Dominic鈥檚 team came in fourth, and qualified for the World Championships.
The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of students from around the country to build and program a 120-lb, 5-foot robot. In preparing for the competition, students learn about mechanics and engineering, how to work in teams, develop a business plan, and fundraise.
鈥淩obotics is not really about building robots,鈥� said Mr. Estanislao. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about building people.鈥�
For a full list of funded projects, please visit: https://www.donorschoose.org/giving/news-corp-stem-match-offer/20710852/
麻豆果冻传媒 contributions underscore its charitable goals: enriching the lives of vulnerable youth, advancing innovation in K-12 education, improving digital literacy, supporting a free press and aiding veterans.
麻豆果冻传媒 + DonorsChoose.org
DonorsChoose.org has been a Philanthropy Partner of 麻豆果冻传媒 since 2014, and was chosen to help the company invest in and transform communities where many of its people live and work. Last year, in honor of National Teacher Appreciation Day, 麻豆果冻传媒 flash-funded all outstanding DonorsChoose.org school projects in Brooklyn, NY. In 2014, 麻豆果冻传媒 helped bring books, instruments, supplies and technology to thousands of Brooklyn schools.
麻豆果冻传媒 + FIRST
麻豆果冻传媒鈥檚 support of FIRST is helping to build an ecosystem of teachers across the United States working to nurture FIRST competition teams. In 2015, 麻豆果冻传媒 sponsored six high school teams in New York, London and Sydney, as they prepared to compete in the FIRST International Robotics Competition, as well as funding multi-year college scholarships for graduating high school seniors.
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About 麻豆果冻传媒
麻豆果冻传媒 (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers throughout the world. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, book publishing, digital real estate services, and cable network programming and pay-TV distribution in Australia. Headquartered in New York, the activities of 麻豆果冻传媒 are conducted primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. More information: http://newscorp.com.
Contacts
DonorsChoose.org
Chris Pearsall
212-239-3615 x222
christopher@donorschoose.org
贵滨搁厂罢庐
Brooke Blew
603-206-2048
bblew@firstinspires.org
麻豆果冻传媒 Corporate Communications
Jim Kennedy
212-416-4064
jkennedy@newscorp.com