Toyota USA Foundation Awards $915,000 for Math and Science Initiatives

TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 3 -- The Toyota USA Foundation has approved grants totaling $915,000 to fund four education programs designed to enhance the teaching of K-12 math and science throughout the United States.

Recipients of the awards include DuBois-Hamer Institute for African American Achievement at California State University Northridge, The Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University, Fairmount Center for Science and Mathematics Education at Wichita State University and Purdue University's School of Education.

``We're pleased to support these outstanding organizations in these new education initiatives,'' said Yoshi Inaba, president, Toyota USA Foundation. ``Each organization has shown a long-standing commitment to improve pre-collegiate education in their communities and has developed important partnerships with community-based centers and schools.''

Funding of $130,000 will enable the DuBois-Hamer Institute for African American Achievement at California State University, Northridge, to develop a culturally based demonstration model to instruct African American middle school students in math and science. Designed as an early outreach college preparatory program, students and their parents will be exposed to math/science opportunities through cognitive and psycho-educational strategies.

A grant of $250,000 over two years will allow The Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to complete the development, pilot testing and eventual national distribution of a mathematics software packaged called Descartes CoVE (Collaborative Virtual Environment). The program allows students to develop spatial, inductive and deductive reasoning skills through manipulations and investigations of patterns and mathematical laws.

The Fairmount Center for Science and Mathematics Education at Wichita State University, Kansas, will receive $375,000 over three years to implement the JASON project for 3,000 to 5,000 middle school students throughout Kansas. Founded by oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, the JASON project's mission is to excite and engage students in science and technology through a year-long, expedition-based, multimedia science education program.

Purdue University's School of Education will receive $160,000 to support the implementation of the Children's Literacy and Science Project for training teachers of elementary students in the use of journals as an effective tool for science learning. The program will prepare teachers to use different kinds of journals for elementary purposes including inquiry, laboratory/experiment, field and descriptive journals.

The Toyota USA Foundation is a $35 million charitable endowment created and funded by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. It is dedicated to supporting innovative educational programs serving kindergarten through 12th grade in the United States -- with special emphasis on mathematics and science.