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By Nikki Cabus

Indian River State College Promise Program Renewed for Third Year

Read Time 3 Minutes

A unanimous vote by the IRSC Foundation Board to renew the IRSC Promise program means students graduating in 2024 from in-district public and public charter high schools and eligible in-district homeschool graduates can earn tuition-free Associate degrees from Indian River State College.

Approved for a third year, the IRSC Promise Program has correlated to a dramatic increase in college-going among local high school graduates with greater numbers of Hispanic, first-generation and male students entering the College—impressive statistics that far exceed or buck national trends.

The IRSC Promise Program, sponsored by the IRSC Foundation, represents the College’s commitment to serve our students and community. The College, its faculty and staff, believe that the cost of tuition should never prevent students from pursuing their personal and academic goals.

The Program will provide a tuition-free Associate Degree to every qualifying graduate from Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie county public or public charter high schools and eligible in-district homeschool graduates.

“Over the past two years, more than 4,300 first-time-in-college students entered Indian River State College through the IRSC Promise program,” shares Vice President for Student Success Elizabeth Gaskin.

“The program is a game-changer for so many families in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie communities, and we are grateful for the leadership, support and vision of the IRSC Foundation Board in moving Promise forward for another year.”

A leader in education and innovation, Indian River State College transforms lives by offering high-quality, affordable and accessible education to the residents of Florida’s Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie counties through traditional and online delivery. IRSC is a recipient of the 2019 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges. The College serves nearly 22,000 students annually and offers more than 100 programs leading to Bachelor’s degrees, Associate degrees, technical certificates and applied technology diplomas.

Credited chiefly to the success of the IRSC Promise program, overall enrollment for Indian River State College continues to climb. Last year, when the College introduced its first Promise cohort, Indian River State College welcomed the largest first-year class in its more than 60-year history; overall enrollment increased by nearly +9%. This fall, the College has more first-time-in-college students than ever, and enrollment continues to accelerate, to date an increase of +6% over last fall.

The IRSC Promise program is not a grant or scholarship. It is a tuition-paid program sponsored by the IRSC Foundation and funded through generous donor philanthropy and unrestricted investment proceeds.

“Since its inception in 2022, the Indian River State College Promise Program has proven to be one of the most successful investments the IRSC Foundation has made to quickly and dramatically remove barriers to higher education,” said IRSC Foundation Board Chair Bill Marine. “We are proud to support a new year of funding to help provide tuition-free Associate degrees for a new generation of high school graduates.”

Eligible students can pledge the IRSC Promise at promise.irsc.edu beginning January 24, 2024. The pledge deadline is May 24, 2024.

For more information, visit https://promise.irsc.edu or email promise@irsc.edu

By Nikki Cabus

JA raises over $120k for student programs in Palm Beach & Treasure Coast regions

Read Time 3 Minutes

Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast held their 10th Annual JA Caribbean Wind raising over $120k for student programs. 

The fundraiser, in partnership with the Esther B. O’Keeffe Charitable Trust, took place the evening of October 14th outside at Safe Harbor Rybovich in West Palm Beach. Guest enjoyed Caribbean cuisine, cocktails, hand-rolled cigars, live reggae music by Clement Aubrey and One Tribe surrounded by yachts up to 100 meters in length.

With 200 people in attendance from nonprofit leaders to local executives and featuring over $28k in incredible silent auctions to bid on, the fundraiser raised over $120k in support of student programming across Palm Beach County and into the Treasure Coast.

The evening was co-chaired by Deana Pizzo of I.T. Solutions of South Florida and David Markarian of The Markarian Group. Committee members included Rikki and Stu Bagatell; Shannon and Brad Ball; Kathy and Jon Burstein; Allison and Trey Fogg; Alyssa Freeman; Teresa Heine; Dena and Dennis Kennedy; LeeAnne and Joe LaBanz; Al Loureiro; Sonali and Neeraj Mendiratta; Melissa Nash; Sophia A. Nelson; and Josh Vandagriff.

Claudia Kirk Barto, JA Palm Beach & Treasure Coast CEO, told Tech Hub, “We couldn’t have done it without our awesome committee chaired by Deana Pizzo and Dave Markarian!”

Junior Achievement (JA) programs span grades K-12, with age-appropriate curricula designed to teach elementary students about their roles as individuals, workers, and consumers and to prepare middle grade and high school students for key economic and workforce issues they will face.

Too many children don’t have access to education crucial for their future success such as personal financial responsibility, budgeting, critical thinking, and career readiness. JA exists so that all kids, regardless of background, receive the tools they need to build a future for themselves in which they are optimistic, economically self-sufficient, and determined, with a belief in the power of free enterprise.

JA offers a multidisciplinary approach that connects learning across social studies disciplines, such as economics, geography, history, government, civics, while incorporating mathematical concepts and reasoning/language arts skills. JA believes that creating foundations that build upon each other over time is the key to having graduates go on feeling really prepared for handling financial matters as adults.

Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast will inspire and prepare their ONE MILLIONTH student this coming school year through financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and workforce readiness programs.

Educational materials are used in all grade levels and are available for free to all public schools, due to the community’s support. Since the pandemic, impact has surged from 20-30,000 students per year to over 146,000 students served this past year throughout Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Hendry counties. Funds are needed to cover the cost of program curriculum and materials.

Check out the full photo album here. Donations to help support our students can also be made here: https://tinyurl.com/JADonation

 

By Nikki Cabus

FPL’s Classroom Makeover Grant Program helps underserved classroom access STEM education across Florida

Read Time 4 Minutes

Florida Power & Light‘s Classroom Makeover Grant Program has transformed another five classroom across the state of Florida. 

As part of a $1 million, 4-year commitment from its charitable arm, the NextEra Energy Foundation, works to advance STEM curriculum, increase the exposure of Black students to STEM education and jumpstart students’ interest in STEM careers. Each year through 2024, five schools are selected in FPL’s service area to receive the $50,000 grant.

The grants are intended to provide transformational learning opportunities for Black students in classroom settings, as all recipient schools are comprised of at least 25% Black students. The Classroom Makeover Grant program and funds are available to directly addresses needs in infrastructure, technology or resources (i.e., software, equipment, books, training of teachers, tutors, paraprofessionals).

“Our STEM Classroom Makeover Grant allows us to invest in our next generation to help provide transformational learning opportunities for Black students in a STEM classroom setting,” said Pamela Rauch, Vice President of External Affairs & Economic Development for FPL, in a previous interview.

“We are excited that these projects will be one of the first, as we complete our inaugural year of implementing this grant, which allows us to support both educators and students, our next generation of leaders.”

Congratulations to this year’s 2022-2023 winning classrooms in Florida:

FPL’s five classroom makeover grant recipients in Florida for the 2022 inaugural year were:

Cypress Run Education Center School, an alternative school in Broward County, invested in a multimedia technology lab, web design programs, TV production arrangements, coding software, robotics education and Microsoft certifications. South Florida Tech Hub had the honor of being invited to their most recent student Hackathon hosted by STEM teacher, Ms. Osas Guis-Obaseki and Principal Harrigan.

Ms. Osas has spearheaded a STEM Club that meets biweekly to expose students to programming and the computer science field. She has given students the opportunity to to build computers, learn coding and programming, and gain skills using digital tools. Ms. O hosts quarterly Hackathons where students demonstrate their coding skills and compete with other students.

Under her leadership, students have complete the Microsoft certifications in HTML and CSS Programming, Website Design, and MS Office. She has also been able to collaborate with additional industry partners such as CloudHesive, Oracle, ReGenerate Tech, and many more.

Ms. Osas got in touch with South Florida Tech Hub in 2022 as a volunteer at the annual TECHpalooza in Broward County where she also brought students to educate them on the importance of networking, giving back and getting exposure to tech professionals in South Florida.

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School in Riviera Beach was also one of five schools in Florida to be awarded a Classroom Makeover Grant from FPL last year to advance STEM curriculum, increase the exposure of Black students to STEM education and jumpstart students’ interest in STEM careers. The $50,000 grant that the school received supported a variety of professional education resources, including computers, robot lab packs, aerodynamics sets, and renewable energy education kits. See the full WPTV update here.

“As a Title 1 school with a 98% Black population, we are committed to providing children of color with vast learning opportunities and exposure to STEM education and careers,” Katrina W. Granger, the principal at Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School, said.

“We are so appreciative of FPL’s commitment to diversity in STEM, which has made the vision of hardworking and inspiring STEM educator with big dreams, Tracy Howard, come to fruition. This grant will support both Mrs. Howard and her scholars achieve their greatest dream.”

This grant is open to all public, private and charter schools and all grade levels in FPL’s service area in Florida. Grants are also available to schools in areas served by FPL’s sister company NextEra Energy Resources. As with all foundation grants, no customer dollars are involved.

Schools can apply now for the next grant cycle. Applications are now open and will close October 15, 2023! 

  Read more

Indian River State College Promise Program Renewed for Third Year
JA raises over $120k for student programs in Palm Beach & Treasure Coast regions
FPL’s Classroom Makeover Grant Program helps underserved classroom access STEM education across Florida