Vocational Endowment Fund to Fulfill Teachers Wish Lists for Hands On Learning Materials
Dec 14, 2020
(MCMINNVILLE, OR) - Rising Together, an initiative started through Solid Form was created as a way to help bridge the gap between local industries and students as a way to cultivate interest in finding right fit career paths. In 2019 The Rising Together Custom Crush project was created to help fund scholarships for students entering the skilled trades, and this year money from the Vocational Endowment Fund will be used not only to fund scholarships, but also to help supply local Pathways teachers with the materials needed to produce project based learning tool-kits for students to take home.
Deven Paolo, the co-founder of Solid Form began reaching out to local teachers and administrators in early November to see if there was a way that local businesses could help make project-based learning more accessible to students. “Building and creating projects is a critical component of vocational and STEM learning programs. We want to put together kits that can be sent home with students and provide them with these types of valuable educational opportunities during Comprehensive Distance Learning. We want to ensure that students in Yamhill County have the ability to get their hands on the equipment and materials that make the content they're learning tangible.”
Veronica Chase, Assistant Principal at McMinnville High School said “One of the benefits of the Pathways Program is that students are able to get hands-on experience. Pathways help kids to explore areas and discover talents and interests they may not have known they had.”
Currently, the project-based learning toolkits are being assembled for STEM classes at Patton and Duniway Middle Schools, McMinnville High School Pathways classes in Construction, Fabrication & Welding, and Engineering & Aerospace Sciences, as well as Manufacturing classes at Yamhill-Carlton High School. These toolkits will help facilitate a hands on learning experience for nearly 300 local students, and potentially inspire the next generation to explore careers in the skilled trades.
Community members and businesses are invited to contribute to the creation of these Vocational Tool Kits by donating to the Rising Together Fund or by contributing materials or services in support of Pathways programming. Additional Information can be found here: https://www.mcminnvillebusiness.com/medp-spark-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving
Contributions in the form of support, supplies, and donations as well as questions about the Toolkits, and the Vocational Endowment Fund can be submitted through this form or directed to:
Deven Paolo, Co-founder of Solid Form
503.435.1400
