Hispanic Unity of Florida, Inc.,awarded $94,540 grant from State Farm’s Youth Advisory Board

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 5, 2012   -

Contact:        
Josie Bacallao
President &CEO
(954) 683-2028
Jbacallao@hispanicunity.org

Hispanic Unity of Florida, Inc.,awarded $94,540 grant from State Farm’s Youth Advisory Board

HOLLYWOOD, Florida -- Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF) today announced it has been awarded a $94,540 grant from State Farm through its Youth Advisory Board. The grant will support the agency’s Unity 4Teens afterschool program at Apollo Middle School (Hollywood, FL). The project’s name is “STEM in the Garden;” and will provide youth an opportunity to design a project using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).There will be a special check presentation celebrating the launch of the program at Apollo Middle School on November 15th at 4:00 pm.

The project will expose 1,000+ youth to STEM education, technologies, and career opportunities.  The grant, which received among the highest score in the state, was decided by State Farm’s Youth Advisory Board on which young people serve. The project will address the achievement gap for minorities, and females in STEM fields and provide service learning opportunities for 120 at-risk youth.

“The students we serve through our Unity 4Teens program are facing more challenges than ever before,” said Josie Bacallao, President &CEO of Hispanic Unity.  Last year, less than half of the students at Apollo Middle School passed the science section of the state standardized test.This grant from State Farm will allow us introduce STEM concepts in fun and compelling ways. Our goal is increase the interest in science.”

TheSTEM in the Garden projectwill be student-led and willinclude the creation of a botany lab, an irrigation system, a solar technology area and a life size chess game.  Service learning will also play an important role in this project as students will create a “Speakers Bureau” to introduce local elementary school students to the garden, a Mentoring Program and Summer STEM activities for younger students, and a STEM Career Fair to educate youth and their parents about the demand for STEM professionals.  All activities were identified and selected by a 25 student Youth Advisory Board from Apollo Middle School.

“The State Farm grant will allow Apollo Middle School and the Unity 4 Teens program to incorporate authentic science and STEM projects into daily practice. This fantastic opportunity will ensure that students learn 21st century skills and participate in hands-on projects to further develop the school and local community,” said Sarah Pierce, Language Instructor and Co-Site Facilitator at Apollo.

“Unity 4 Teens at Apollo thanks both Hispanic Unity and State Farm for this amazing chance to change the lives of our students, and provide them with a chance to truly gain exposure to real-world concepts”.

“State Farm supports service-learning because it integrates service to the community into classroom curriculum using a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility,” said Jose Soto, State Farm Community Specialist. “The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a prime example of State Farm’s commitment to education, our community and our youth.”

The STEM in the Garden project will be part of the already existing Unity 4Teens program, a year round before and after school youth development program that serves over 600 students at two Broward County high schools and four middles schools. Key partners include the Children Services Council of Broward County, Broward County Public Schools, Florida Department of Education/21st Century, Target, Broward County’s Sheriff Office and the City of Hollywood Police Department.

The Mission of Hispanic Unity of Florida is: Empowering Hispanics and other members of the community to become self-sufficient, civically engaged and to lead productive lives.  Founded in 1982, HUF has grown to serve diverse and multi-cultural low-income individuals from the United States and more than 25 other countries. Each year, HUF provides a diverse range of wrap-around services to help over 20,000 clients of all ages, from preschoolers to adults, successfully transition to a productive new life. The agency achieves this goal through the provision of 21 core programs in the areas of education, economic development and civic engagement.  For more information visit the agency’s website at: www.HispanicUnity.org or call 954-964-8884.

About State Farm®
State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 43 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.

About Service Learning
Service-learning is a teaching method which supplements classroom studies with hands-on projects that address pressing community issues and problems. To learn more about service-learning visit www.nylc.org, www.ysa.org, www.service-learningpartnership.org and http://www.statefarm.com/about/part_spos/community/ed_excel/servlrng.asp.