C-STEM da Vinci Booster Club receives a Community Challenge “Everyone is an Artist and an Engineer” CSTEM Teacher and Student Support Services, Inc. (“C-STEM”) held its 1st annual C-STEM da Vinci Booster Club breakfast at the Junior League of Houston, Thursday, July 25, 2013. The event featured $5,000 donations from State Farm, and the Dominion Foundation on behalf of Dr. Robert Satcher, NASA Astronaut and Physician. Two C-STEM alumni were featured speakers at the event. Wisdom Muofhe, a UT Mechanical Engineering student said, “I am very grateful to have been a part of the C-STEM program because it helped me in obtaining leadership skills and prompted the decision to dive into an innovative technology career path”. Marcos Castro, who has been a C-STEM student the last three years at Jackson Middle School added, “C-STEM is not only about robotics; it’s about learning to solve problems through different fields. I have become an engineer, a scientist, a writer, a researcher, and an artist. We are the future, the future engineers, and the future problem solvers. Without us there is nothing. Without C-STEM we are less.” The da Vinci Booster Club Breakfast challenged individuals/businesses to make annual commitments or small monthly gift commitments of $10 to $200, to provide ongoing support for C-STEM’s program and activities. “Support from our Booster Club members will ensure CSTEM has a sustainable funding source to leverage in addition to annual corporate and foundation gifts”, stated Dr. Flowers. “These smaller gifts will ensure C-STEM reduces its reliance on major gifts, and that it maintains solvency during economic downturns when corporations and foundations have a tendency to pull back funding”, added Dr. Flowers. The breakfast also featured the STEMing the Time Community Champion Award presentation to Mr. Gary Jones, a long-time supporter who has been making monthly contributions to CSTEM for more than 5 years. The da Vinci Booster Club breakfast kicked off the beginning of an exciting school year of 7-8 months of P-12 schools preparation to compete in the annual international CSTEM Challenge and iSTEM Olympiad that will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014 from 8 am - 5 pm in the George R. Brown Convention Center, General Assembly Theater, Level 3. The event is for elementary, middle, and high school students. The Challenge provides a platform for students to compete in robotics, 3-D printing, mural, sculpture, film making, geosciences, and a STEM Quiz Bowl. Founded in 2002, CSTEM is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the achievement gaps in the areas of communication, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (CSTEM), through focused teacher training and experiential learning where students are challenged to solve real-world problems through practical application. The community impact CSTEM has had in P-12 education was on display by the tremendous show of support at the da Vinci Booster Club Breakfast. The breakfast raised over $25,000 exceeding CSTEM’s goal for the inaugural breakfast causing CSTEM to raise the bar to a target of $100,000 through the year. Furthermore, an anonymous benefactor has step up with a challenge to match each dollar up to $10,000 per month through the first year. “This generous gift has helped set the stage for C-STEM supporters to help us meet the challenge of reaching a monthly fundraising goal of $10,000, in order to secure these matching funds”, stated Dr. Flowers. To join in the challenge to become a da Vinci Booster Club member, log on to the website cstem.org, to make an annual or monthly gift commitment. CSTEM is headquartered in Houston, Texas and hosts this event every spring to connect three levels of basic education creating P-12 pipeline teams that evolve into competitive STEM driven feeder systems to college or work. CSTEM has positively impacted the lives of more than 50,000 students in grades P-12, and trained more than 500 teachers. CSTEM operates in school districts in Texas, Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and the Dominican Republic. For more information, call (713) 443-4521, e-mail [email protected], or visit cstem.org.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 16:19:27 +0000
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