Torrance Education Foundation Awards $164,000 to TUSD
Grant Will Fund Science Lab Equipment at Elementary Schools
At the Monday night meeting of the Board of Education, the Torrance Education Foundation presented a grant in the amount of $164, 000. The funds are to be used towards equipping brand new science labs at all 17 of the TUSD elementary schools. Robinson Helicopter helped launch the fundraising effort with a generous contribution of $100,000 in an effort to advance science education at TUSD schools.
As part of Measure T, passed in 2014, in the next 24 months, every TUSD elementary school will gain a new science lab in which students can explore science concepts and experience hands on applications of their science lessons. Measure T funds will pay for the science classrooms to be built, but not for them to be installed with the necessary equipment and tools. TEF has committed to support the District’s goal to provide every science lab with the needed items so that they will be spaces for dynamic learning worthy of our young budding scientists.
“Support for the high priority needs of our schools and students is our primary mission at Torrance Education Foundation” says TEF Board President Kevin O’Brien. “Students need the opportunity to interact and learn about science and nature through experimentation. We are proud to contribute to the new science labs, and we are very excited to help our schools bring new access to learning and exploration of science to our students.”
Phase one of the science lab projects will begin this summer at Carr, Edison, Lincoln and Yukon Elementary Schools, with the goal that all the school science labs will be complete within two years. Some of the equipment needed for the labs include: barometers, beakers and test tubes, storage carts, chopsticks, dissection scissors, eye droppers, forceps, fossils, goggles, hammers, hot plates, a human body model, magnets, ping pong balls, prisms, rope, rulers, a digital scale, telescopes, terrariums, test tubes, and a wave tank.
About Torrance Education Foundation
Torrance Education Foundation (TEF) promotes and financially supports academic excellence for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students in the Torrance Unified School District (TUSD). Founded in 1992, in partnership with TUSD, TEF is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity that gathers and channels donated resources from Torrance citizens, businesses, and area philanthropies to ensure that all students have access to the widest variety of exciting, cutting-edge, enriching educational and learning opportunities.
In the past five years, TEF has directed more than $5 million to support the high-priority needs of TUSD, its teachers, and its Pre-K through 12th grade students.
About Torrance Unified School District
Torrance Unified School District (TUSD), established in 1947 and unified in 1948, includes 17 elementary, 8 middle, and 4 high schools, 1 continuation school and 1 alternative high school. The District also has 3 adult school campuses and 1 pre-school for children with special needs. The District encompasses all of the City of Torrance.