2020 Innovation Grant Award Winners
To learn more about each program, please visit our Video Library
inspire Award
Program: “Beebots & Cubelets Program”
School/District: Central Elementary School, Escondido Union School District
Description: The Beebots and Cubelets program leverages robots to enhance STEM education for first graders. Aligned with the Common Core standards, students learn coding and programming using simple robots that reinforce mathematics, measurement, critical thinking, collaboration, and even language arts. This program creatively meets a common gap of STEM education in lower grades by addressing basic programming skills without the use of screen time.
innovate Award
Program: “Personalized Learning Team”
School/District: Cardiff Elementary School District
Description: The Personalized Learning Team program is made up of innovative educators and administrators who are using design thinking to cultivate a student-centered, personalized learning environment where curiosity and passion ignite the learning process for each student. Educators create individual personalized learning solutions for their classrooms by conducting empathy interviews, brainstorming, collaborating, testing, and iterating. This program was developed with our rapidly changing job market in mind, and is focused on preparing students to be lifelong learners so they can tackle any problem that comes their way.
achieve Award
Program: “Fire Academy”
School/District: Health Sciences High & Middle College
Description: The Fire Academy program empowers students to become emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and firefighters, helping more than 630 students to pursue their dreams. Students engage in a four-year CTE pathway program, modeled on the California State Fire Marshal Firefighter One Academy and based on the skills mandated by the International Fire Service Training Association. The program features rigorous academic courses, college courses, essential workplace skills for fire service, and partnerships with local Fire & Emergency Medical Response agencies.
impact Award
Program: “World of Work Initiative”
School/District: Cajon Valley Union School District
Description: The World of Work (WoW) Initiative is a career development framework, grounded in career theory, led by teachers, designed in Cajon Valley, and being deployed across grade levels starting in TK. The goal is to serve the district’s vision in raising happy kids, in healthy relationships, on a path to gainful employment. WoW is a curriculum designed for every child, in every grade, in every year. It brings career-related learning into the classroom by teachers and is currently in its third year of implementation.