About / news-main / News-archives / Mar 12 / CCSTEM founded and receives CSLNET grant

March 27, 2012
For immediate release

The Central Coast STEM Education Collaborative (CCSTEM) founded and receives $50,000 grant from the California STEM Learning Network (CSLNET)

The Central Coast STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) Education Collaborative (CCSTEM) is a new non-profit organization devoted to enhancing in-school and after-school educational opportunities for children and teachers of the Central Coast. As a regional lead, CCSTEM will convene local K-12, higher education, business and industry partners, and informal and community-based organizations to move STEM education into a position of prominence and ensure its students are college and career ready with more students going into STEM majors and careers. This collaborative includes, the Endeavour Institute, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County offices of education, and the University of California, Santa Barbara representing the Santa Barbara County P-20 STEM Council.

“CCSTEM receiving word of the approval of the $50,000 grant from CSLNet is a monumental achievement and icing on the cake for an outstanding partnership of organizations, businesses and educational leaders on the Central Coast,” says Walt Reil, board member of the Endeavour Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to implementing a new STEM education methodology that augments the Inquiry Model with project-based, learn-by-doing simulations and real problem-solving opportunities within our schools. Reil is also an employee of PG&E, a senior business analyst at the Diablo Canyon power plant over the past 26 years and in the nuclear power generation business for 36 years. “The accomplishment of this major milestone is one that is crucial to developing a strong financial foundation to make CCSTEM a very visible and active educational outreach partner with communities from Cambria and San Miguel in the north to Carpinteria in the south.”

“The award from CSLNet allows for much needed regional planning,” Dean of the Gevirtz School Jane Close Conoley, who is also the chair of the Santa Barbara Council, reflected. “Promoting STEM achievement requires taking on the grand challenges of state of the art science and mathematics pedagogy and the barriers that exist to sharing important information across educational entities and levels. Cross-county resources can expand our capacity inside and outside of the classroom to assist young people in achieving 21st century competencies.”

“The work carried out by the Central Coast STEM Collaborative will be essential in preparing students to meet our state’s expected demand for an additional 1 million STEM-trained workers,” says Chris Roe, CEO of the California STEM Learning Network.

[Walt Reil and Jane Close Conoley are available for interviews; contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789]

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