Think Together Receives $100,000 Grant From The Boeing Company to Facilitate STEM Programming In Southeast Los Angeles County
Grant Will Help Students in Bellflower, Compton and Lynwood Gain Additional Access to STEM Opportunities
Santa Ana, Calif. (January 20, 2021) Think Together, California’s leading nonprofit provider of afterschool, expanded learning and school improvement programs, announced today that The Boeing Company has awarded $100,000 in grant funding to Think Together’s Southeast Los Angeles County region. This grant marks their third year of funding at $100,000 and has created a K-12 STEM continuum, serving more than 16,000 students across the cities of Bellflower, Lynwood and Compton.
Boeing employees have continuously contributed to the program serving as judges for competitions, conventions, and career panels. Through the funding and support provided by Boeing, Think Together has been able to offer a robust STEM curriculum and resources to these traditionally under-resourced students. Many of Boeing’s employees have similar backgrounds to the students Think Together serves, and this partnership makes visible the future successes our students can achieve.
“Boeing is proud to support an organization like Think Together that inspires our youth to engage in opportunities involving math, science and technology,” said Kristie Hernández, Senior Government & Community Relations Specialist at Boeing. “By partnering with Think Together, we are helping local students receive equitable education resources that can propel them for success now and in the future.”
At Think Together, students are provided instruction in introductory coding, robotics, and logic through their Coding For All initiative and other expanded learning and enrichment curriculums. Programming supported by Coding For All includes visual and text-based code editing, e-sports competitions, rapid-prototyping, STEM career explorations, Invention Adventures activities, and Hack Clubs throughout Los Angeles county as well as Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Alameda and Santa Clara counties.
Knowledge from STEM courses is becoming increasingly vital for careers out of college. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts are critical, but so are the traits developed like ingenuity, creativity, problem-solving, resilience, teamwork, and the willingness to take risks.
“We are grateful for partners like The Boeing Company who believe education is the key to changing the odds for kids,” says Randy Barth, founder and CEO of Think Together. “STEM knowledge is integral to future success and Think Together is proud to offer that knowledge to students through our partnership.”
The grant was awarded as part of the organization’s, “Light the Way” giving campaign, which raised nearly $400,000 in private funds for afterschool and expanded learning programs. Private partnerships are powerful catalysts for providing equity in education and economic empowerment by allowing Think Together to augment public grants received at the state and federal levels.
Think Together’s afterschool expanded learning programs are funded in part by After School Education and Safety (ASES) grants awarded by the California Department of Education and 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants secured from the U.S. Department of Education. California has the largest system of publicly backed expanded learning in the nation.
These programs initially faced budget cuts amid the pandemic. In 2021, however, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, committed a record $5 billion investment by 2025 for afterschool programs as part of his historic $123 billion funding bill to support K-12 schools. Organizations like Think Together rely on public grants as well as private philanthropy to bring high-quality education programs from preschool to high school.
About Think Together
Think Together partners with schools and communities to pursue educational equity and excellence for all kids. As a nonprofit organization, Think Together innovates, implements and scales academic solutions that change the odds for hundreds of thousands of California students. Think Together’s program areas include early learning, afterschool, school support services and leadership development for teachers and school administrators. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit www.thinktogether.org.
About Orenda Education
A Think Together affiliate since 2014, Orenda Education is in the business of change. This group of highly experienced educational consultants’ partners with school districts to identify research-based equity-grounded solutions for closing the Achievement Gap. Orenda’s proven approach dramatically improves student outcomes and creates paths for college and career opportunities. For more information please go to orendaed.org.
About The Boeing Company
As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. As a top U.S. exporter, the company leverages the talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing’s diverse team is committed to innovating for the future and living the company’s core values of safety, quality and integrity. Learn more at www.boeing.com.
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