PBS SoCal KOCE Awarded $75,000 Grant for Education Outreach from the American Honda Foundation

LOS ANGELES, Calif., December 13, 2016 – Long-time supporter the American Honda Foundation awarded PBS SoCal a $75,000 grant to expand its educational outreach in underserved Southern California communities. The funding will further PBS SoCal’s Ready To Learn initiative, which uses educational PBS KIDS content and STEM resources to help prepare kids for school and life.

“Core to our mission is to foster a love of learning from an early age. Our Ready To Learn initiative allows us to do so by meeting the children in our community and introducing them to entertaining and educational resources,” said Jamie Myers, PBS SoCal’s COO and VP of Education & Community Outreach. “With the generous multi-year support from the American Honda Foundation we are able to continue our 45-year commitment to serving this community through unique educational experiences.”

The American Honda Foundation grant made an immediate impact, allowing PBS SoCal to expand its Family Science Nights. Most recently, kids and parents in Compton attended Family Science Night events where they used creative play to learn core coding concepts by creating their own interactive stories and games using PBS KIDS characters.

Also thanks to the American Honda Foundation, PBS SoCal's Mobile Lab will expand with additional iPads to serve even more preschoolers and kindergarteners by traveling to events and partner sites across the region. Each Mobile Lab offers access to iPads loaded with educational apps that link familiar PBS KIDS characters with math and science activities. Finally, the grant will also enable PBS SoCal to deliver backpacks equipped with curriculum-based STEM toolkits to parents, caregivers, and educators through monthly workshops. Community partners who will receive backpacks include CARECEN, Children’s Institute, Inc., PACE, Project Access, THINK Together, Boys & Girls Club of Tustin , KidWorks, Santa Ana Public Library, Compton Unified School District – Foster Elementary, and Carson Elementary School.

“Two persisting issues in STEM education in the U.S. are: 1) the lack of engaging children early in STEM and 2) early childhood educators not possessing the confidence and resources to do so. PBS SoCal addresses both by providing fun and enriching STEM curriculum that equips early childhood professionals with what they need to create hands-on, minds-on learning environments,” said Nichole Whitley, Program Officer for the American Honda Foundation. “Like PBS SoCal, the American Honda Foundation believes that every child regardless of their socio-economic background deserves an equal opportunity to rise to their full potential and it’s imperative that we support programs that make high-quality math and science education accessible to underserved children that need it most.”

About The American Honda Foundation
Established in 1984, the American Honda Foundation (AHF) makes grants to non-profit organizations that benefit the people of the United States in the areas of youth and scientific education, with a specific focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects in addition to the environment. AHF engages in grantmaking that reflects the basic tenets, beliefs and philosophies of Honda companies, which are characterized by the following qualities: imaginative, creative, youthful, forward-thinking, scientific, humanistic and innovative. Since its inception, more than $37 million has been awarded to organizations serving approximately 117 million people in every state in the U.S.

About PBS SoCal KOCE
PBS SoCal is the home to PBS for Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. We deliver the full schedule of PBS programs, plus content that is for, about and by the people of Southern California. Our content is available free through three broadcast channels, at pbssocal.org, on our mobile apps, and via connected TV services. And we provide the community with early education resources and cultural and educational experiences through partnerships, events and grassroots outreach. PBS SoCal has offices in Century City, Costa Mesa, and Los Angeles. Connect with us at pbssocal.org and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Media Contacts:
Jennifer Vides
(310) 803-9008
JVides@pbssocal.org

Stacy Shaffer
(714) 241-4166
SShaffer@pbssocal.org