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Toyota USA Foundation Announces $1,000,000 in Grants

9 September 1998

$1,000,000 in Grants Announced By Toyota USA Foundation

    TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 8 -- The Toyota USA Foundation Board
of Directors has approved grants totaling $1,080,000 to COSI Columbus, the
Center for Greater Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, Douglass
College of Rutgers University, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association,
Adopt-A-Watershed, and Rice University.
    "We're pleased to implement partnerships with these six outstanding
organizations," said Yale Gieszl, executive vice president, Toyota USA
Foundation, announcing the board's action.
    "All of the programs, either in place or to be initiated by these
organizations, will stimulate learning both inside and outside the classroom.
And each fits closely with our 'Building Bridges to Better Education' theme of
fostering learning, creativity and inquiry into mathematics and science."
    The Center for Greater Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania will
utilize a $75,000 grant to expand its New Standards in Education project, a
collaborative effort to improve the math skills of 300,000-plus students in
Pennsylvania public schools by adhering to world-class standards for measuring
achievements in mathematical knowledge.
    COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in Columbus, Ohio, will receive a
$125,000 grant for the development and implementation of the 1999 Ohio
Statewide Science Workshop (OSSW), an annual science initiative that impacts
2.1 million K-12 grade students and their teachers.
    Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J, will use its
$185,000 two-year award to launch Leading Young Women to the Sciences and
Technology project, a partnership with the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., that
encourages young women to explore mathematics, science, engineering and
technology.  The grant will support two jointly-sponsored and interrelated
programs: a science and technology institute for 10th and 11th grade girls and
a national survey and assessment of curricular and co-curricular materials
that use emerging technologies to teach math and science.
    A $120,000 three-year stipend will assist the Northeast Sustainable Energy
Association, Greenfield, Mass., in expanding its successful Junior Solar
Sprint (JSS) program.  Funds will be used to assist teachers in engaging 3,000
middle school students in a hands-on energy and transportation curriculum, in
which teams design, build and race miniature cars fueled by solar energy.
    Adopt-A-Watershed, San Francisco, Calif., receives a $175,000 three-year
grant to expand its Leadership Institute, enabling five teams of educators to
attend a three-year sequential institute, equipping them to build
self-sustaining watershed programs in their schools and communities and
disseminate the program throughout their respective region, collectively
reaching 45,000 new students.
    Rice University, Houston, Tex., receives a $400,000 grant to support the
Rice Urban Program, a year-round, school-based math initiative in
collaboration with the Houston Independent School District.  Emphasizing
professional development, consistent teacher support, parental and
administrative involvement, the program provides an effective means of
improving mathematics instruction -- and boosting student achievement in
inner-city middle and high schools.  Over the three-year grant period, the

pilot program will target 55 mathematics teachers in four schools, affecting
6,600 students per year.
    The Toyota USA Foundation is a $29 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.
    To request an application and guidelines, contact the Toyota USA
Foundation at 19001 S. Western Ave., Torrance, Calif.; call (310) 618-6766 or
visit the Foundation web site: http://www.toyota.com/foundation.