Toyota USA Foundation Awards $1.4 Million To Support Math and Science Initiatives Nationwide

NEW YORK - January 30, 2007: The Toyota USA Foundation announced yesterday that seven educational organizations will be awarded grants totaling $1,465,538. Awarded semi-annually by the Foundation, the grants will help fund programs designed to enhance K-12 math and science teaching throughout the United States.

Recipients of the latest grants include Mills College, Oakland, CA; the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium, Miami, FL; the MIND Institute, Costa Mesa, CA; the Foundation for Global Biodiversity Education for Children, Portland, OR; the Center for Educational Innovation – Public Education Association, New York, NY; the National Aquarium, Washington, DC and the National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington, DC.

"We're pleased to help support these seven outstanding organizations as they enhance their programs and help foster new generations of math and science leaders," said Patricia Pineda, group vice president, legal, philanthropy and administration at Toyota Motor North America. "Each has developed important and innovative programs that provide real-world, hands-on experiences, and have proven successful in reaching thousands of teachers and students in diverse communities across the country. We're confident that they'll continue to help students strengthen their skills in these important areas."

As part of the grants, Mills College will receive $275,562 for its Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science program. This will help support a one-day math and science symposium organized by women educators, scientists and mathematicians for 350-400 6th-8th grade girls in 2007, 2008 and 2009, as well as a two-week residential math and science program for rising 9th grade female students each summer for the next three years.

The Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium will receive $349,427 to underwrite the development of BioDECIDE (Biomedicine Deliberative Citizen Debate), an innovative new curriculum designed to engage 9th -12th grade students in discussion, debate and scientific research related to cutting-edge topics in biomedicine. Topics are taken from the Public Health Services' Healthy People 2010 Agenda.

Funding of $100,000 will assist the MIND Institute in the development of a Spatial Temporal Algebra Readiness program for adoption by the State of California. The program will prepare middle and high school students for Algebra I, the California high school exit exam, and help them perform successfully in higher-level math courses.

The Foundation for Global Biodiversity Education for Children (GLOBIO) will use its $169,702 award to expand the content and functionality of its Glossopedia, a free, online multimedia interactive science encyclopedia designed for use by 8-12 year-olds. The award will help in the creation of 53 new encyclopedia entries specifically tied to national and state standards in science education.

The Center of Educational Innovation – Public Education Association will receive $100,000 to underwrite a pilot program for 1,000 6th grade students in five New York middle schools. The pilot will support the U.S. introduction of Kids' ISO 14000: Empowering Students as Agents of Environmental Change, an environmental science management curriculum that helps students align the use of energy with the needs of the environment.

An award of $70,847 will support the National Aquarium's "Aquatic and Marine Science for Today's Classroom Teachers," a three-year pilot teacher training workshop that will introduce aquatic and marine science concepts to K-12 teachers in the District of Columbia.

The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) will receive $400,000 to transform its successful Washington, DC-based EnvironMentors Project into a National College Access Program, reaching minority high school students in communities across the U.S. As part of the program, high school students will conduct scientific research and acquire skills that will help them pursue careers in the field of environmental science.

The Toyota USA Foundation is a $42 million charitable endowment created to support education programs serving kindergarten through 12th grade students and their teachers in the United States, with an emphasis on mathematics and science. For additional information about the Toyota USA Foundation, visit www.toyota.com/foundation.