$250000 in matching funds to help San Diego teachers pay for classroom projects - KPBS

Kristina Hereford Watkins teaches a blend of subject successful her eighth people people astatine Lemon Grove Academy. It includes everything from physics and quality anatomy to engineering and technology.

Last year, she was capable to find backing for six virtual world headsets to assistance her students with captious thinking, collaboration, and coordination.

“Scientists, engineers, and the subject are utilizing virtual world and headsets to signifier dissections utilizing cadavers and gathering machines,” Hereford Watkins told KPBS News. “If a pupil tin person those opportunities earlier (in life), what if that tin assistance them prosecute a anticipation successful the future?” she said.

The virtual world instrumentality outgo $5,000. Hereford Watkins started a crowdfunding campaign to rise fractional the money. San Diego Gas and Electric shareholders matched the magnitude to implicit the purchase.

This is the 5th twelvemonth that SDG&E is partnering with the nonprofit level DonorsChoose, to assistance teachers who station their projects online and rise donations to money them. The programme provides matching dollars for schoolroom projects that supplement learning with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects, arsenic good arsenic radical equity and inclusion curriculum.

It targets projects similar those astatine Lemon Grove Academy, a field successful a vicinity with galore children who travel from marginalized communities.

M.G. Perez

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KPBS

Xavier Castellano, 13, uses a virtual world headset successful his subject people astatine Lemon Grove Academy, Lemon Grove, Calif., November 7, 2022.

“We consistently perceive from students that they privation to spot much divers perspectives and examples of affirmative contributions — from their cultures and others — successful their classrooms and curriculum. Students privation to beryllium seen and understood arsenic they question to spot and recognize others,” said San Diego County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Gothold.

“When our teachers tin adhd immoderate other pieces, I accidental the ‘sprinkles’ that assistance support our children engaged and support them loving school. So, this is highly adjuvant due to the fact that it provides resources,” said Tamara Muhammad, main astatine Lemon Grove Academy.

The backing comes astatine a captious clip successful education, erstwhile schoolhouse districts are trying to rebuild and recapture momentum pursuing the COVID-19 shutdowns of the past mates of years.

“Our precise archetypal happening was attending to their social-emotional awareness. We made definite they knew they belonged present and everything was going to beryllium OK,” Muhammad said.

Aiya Henderson, 13, is an 8th-grade subject pupil astatine Lemon Grove Academy. She said, “I privation to beryllium a meteorologist and possibly acquisition the upwind done the metaverse.”

The matching dollars programme is unfastened to teachers astatine schools successful the SDG&E work country successful Orange and San Diego counties. There is $250,000 disposable and applications volition beryllium taken until the wealth is gone.