State Farm® Youth Advisory Board grants $97,155

Evergreen Public Schools receives boost to aid Science Mentoring Program

DuPont, Wash., Feb. 19, 2009 – The State Farm Youth Advisory Board announced the Evergreen Public Schools will receive a $97,155 service-learning grant for the Creating Achievable Pathways in Science for All Learners project.

Evergreen Public Schools is one of 73 organizations to receive a service-learning, youth-led grant across the United States and Canada. More than 500 grant requests were received by the Board.

“The CAPSAL program will allow young people and leaders to focus on topics such as improving math and science test scores, educating an influx of diverse populations and the high drop-out rates in high school while working to protect the environment thus enriching the community,” said Brandon Ibarra, a YAB board member and a Seattle University student.

"This grant money will enable us to extend our cross-age mentoring science fair to include four elementary schools, three high schools and three middle schools, thus creating an opportunity for more students to participate in hands-on engagement with science projects and presentations," said Tom Archer, Science Manager for Evergreen Public Schools. "Cross age mentoring is provided to support positive role models for the elementary students while supporting leadership development in the high school students. Students at both ends of the continuum benefit academically from this partnership. We are extremely grateful to State Farm Youth Advisory Board for supporting us in continuing to provide these kinds of opportunities for our students."

The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a diverse group of 30 youth, ages 17-20, who were chosen through a competitive process to lead and oversee this $5 million/year signature service-learning initiative. The Youth Board identified the issues, issued competitive grants and will now provide technical assistance, communication and oversight to site grantees. The grants funded student-led service-learning projects in the United States and in the Alberta, New Brunswick and Ontario provinces of Canada.

“State Farm supports service-learning because it combines service to the community with classroom curriculum in a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility,” said Ty Cordova, Assistant Public Affairs Manager and Zone YAB Coordinator. “The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a prime example of State Farm’s commitment to education, our community and our youth.”

State Farm will present the grant Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. at Heritage High School in Vancouver, Wash.

Visit www.statefarmyab.com for more information about the different projects being funded and about the Youth Advisory Board.