The Classroom of the Future Foundation (CFF) is assisting students to keep their STEM dreams alive. Hundreds of local San Diego County AVID high school seniors have been the recipients of CFF’s High Tech Academic Achievement Scholarship to support their post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Less than 20% of high school seniors are proficient or interested in STEM careers. “Even among those who do go on to pursue a college major in the STEM fields, only about half choose to work in a related career. The United States is falling behind internationally, ranking 25th in mathematics and 17th in science among industrialized nations. In our competitive global economy, this situation is unacceptable” (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). At the same time the projections for increase in STEM jobs is significant and growing.
AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) a global nonprofit organization based in San Diego, is dedicated to closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and other postsecondary opportunities. Established more than 35 years ago with one San Diego teacher in one classroom, Mary Catherine Swanson, Clairemont High school, AVID today impacts more than 800,000 students in 44 states and 16 other countries/territories.
This past year alone, local AVID students that have received Classroom of the Future Foundation High Tech Academic Achievement Scholarship and have gone on to study pre-med and bio-medical engineering at UCSD and UC Davis; aerospace engineering at UC Irvine; nursing at SDSU; marine biology at CSU Long Beach; neuropsychology at UC Berkeley; mechanical engineering at UCSB; and biochemistry at UCLA just to name a few.
Thanks to the generosity of local businesses, Jack in the Box Foundation, and organizations, USS Midway and the Classroom of the Future Foundation are continuing to support the High Tech Academic Achievement Scholarship again in 2015. Since 1999, CFF and its corporate partners have distributed more than $450,000.00 to more than 260 deserving AVID students.
Due to the high success rate of these AVID students, many of them have graduated and are now physicians, research scientists, computer/software developers, engineers and are contributing to closing the STEM jobs gap.
The Classroom of the Future Foundation recognizes that the inspiration to achieve in the classroom is reinforced by recognizing students via high tech academic scholarships who are leaders, achievement oriented and committed to STEM fields.