SoundWaters Awarded $10,000 Near & Far Aid Grant Grant to Support Summer STEM Academy for At-Risk Stamford Students

For Immediate Release Contact: Bob Mazzone
April 28, 2016 (203) 406-3303
bmazzone@soundwaters.org

SoundWaters Awarded $10,000 Near & Far Aid Grant
Grant to Support Summer STEM Academy for At-Risk Stamford Students

Stamford, CT – Fairfield-based philanthropic group, Near & Far Aid, has awarded a $10,000 grant to SoundWaters in support of its STEM Academy. SoundWaters’ STEM Academy provides hands-on, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programming for underserved and low-performing students. “Studies have shown that by the end of 5th grade, low-income children lose two months in reading achievement while student peers from wealthier backgrounds improve and can be as much as three grade levels ahead by middle school,” said SoundWaters President, Leigh Shemitz. “Carefully designed, the SoundWaters STEM Academy helps to counter this ‘summer slide’,” Shemitz added. The first class of 30 STEM Academy students in 2014 made significant gains in math, reading and science, while also exploring and learning about the habitats of Long Island Sound.

SoundWaters STEM Academy combines intensive study of math and reading with outdoor experiences over four consecutive weeks, offering practice and mastery in new skills. Each day consists of six hours of concentrated learning, hands-on, lab-based science sessions, engineering problem-solving and division and multiplication problems. With each lesson, the access to the Long Island Sound environment provides opportunities for students to reinforce skills and connect with their environment.

“Near & Far Aid is pleased for the opportunity to support SoundWaters and its critical STEM Academy as they use education for at-risk students to lay the foundation for lasting change in our communities,” said Joan Panagos, President of Near & Far Aid. Near & Far Aid has a 60-year history in Fairfield County, and since 2000, it has committed over $15 million to improve the lives of men, women and children suffering the effects of poverty.

###

About SoundWaters
SoundWaters, founded in 1989, is the premier environmental education organization focused on the protection of Long Island Sound and its watershed. Annually, SoundWaters hosts shipboard and land-based programs for 28,000 children, including 9,000 from underserved communities. Its 2016 merger with the Young Mariners Foundation will strengthen SoundWaters’ ability to provide Long Island Sound sailing-based skill and educational development programs to underserved youth throughout the Long Island Sound region. SoundWaters works in partnership with individuals, schools, communities, businesses, civic organizations, and other environmental and educational organizations to develop experiences that foster a sense of responsibility for the environment and encourage actions that ensure the sustainable future of the Long Island Sound ecosystem. For more information, please visit www.soundwaters.org.

About Near & Fair Aid
Near & Far Aid is an all-volunteer fundraising and fund granting organization, dedicated to eliminating the causes and effects of poverty in Fairfield County. Near & Far Aid accomplishes its mission by finding and funding programs that provide life’s most basic necessities, as well as those that seek to achieve lasting change. Since the year 2000, Near & Far Aid has granted more than $15 million to the area’s best non-profit agencies and programs who further our mission. For more information, please visit www.NearAndFarAid.org.

Image Attached. Photo Credit: Henry Jiang.

Caption: SoundWaters educator, Taylor Graham, leads STEM Academy students in a discussion of animal adaptations.