The Career Academy Program at School District 49 has been awarded $187,000 in grant money from three Colorado foundations. The Career Academy Program consists of four academies: health sciences and information technology at Falcon High School and engineering technology and culinary arts and hospitality management at Sand Creek High School.”We cannot thank these foundations enough for the strong and abiding support they have provided to our D 49 career academy students,” said D 49 Superintendent Dr. Nancy Wright.The Daniels Fund granted $50,000 in support of all four of D 49’s career academies.Caring for Colorado Foundation pledged $75,000 over the next three years in support of the district’s Academy of Health Sciences.Intel Foundation granted a total of $62,000 in support of the engineering and information technologies academies. The money also supports the Gateway to Technology program at Horizon Middle School and the Engineering is Elementary program, a Boston Museum of Science program for K-6 students.According to the Boston museum’s Web site, the Engineering is Elementary project fosters engineering and technological literacy among children. Students are invited to apply their knowledge of science, engineering and their problem solving skills, as they design, create and improve possible solutions.Administered by the Milwaukee School of Engineering through Project Lead the Way, the Gateway to Technology program consists of four 10-week units entitled Design and Modeling, the Magic of Electrons, the Science of Technology and Automation and Robotics. The project’s Web site says their goal is to increase interest and awareness of female and minority students in technology and related careers.The Denver-based Caring for Colorado Foundation was created in 1999 when the for-profit Anthem Insurance purchased nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado. As mandated by Colorado law, the $155 million profit from the sale was dedicated to benefit the health of the people of Colorado. Every year, the foundation awards approximately 5 percent of its assets in grants, according to its Web site.Bill Daniels, an investment banker for media and technology companies, established the Daniels Fund in 1997 to encourage personal responsibility and achievement. Daniels was a pioneer in long-distance television, setting set up microwave feed that delivered Denver programming to Casper, Wyo., in 1952. When Daniels died in 2000, his estate was transferred to the Daniels Fund, making it the largest foundation in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit www.danielsfund.org.
