BUCKS COUNTY — January 23, 2020 — State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) announced the award of two PAsmart Targeted grants to benefit New Hope-Solebury School District and Pennsbury School District, respectively. New Hope-Solebury and Pennsbury were two of 162 school districts across the Commonwealth, each of which received $35,000 in grant funding. Governor Wolf’s PAsmart initiative aims to prepare students with skills required for in-demand jobs, focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs and teacher training.

“The importance of STEM education is only increasing,” said Sen. Santarsiero. “It is estimated that over the next decade, more than 70 percent of new jobs in Pennsylvania will be in STEM-related fields. I’m proud of the work our school districts are doing to prepare students for the future job market.”

New Hope-Solebury School District will be using these funds from PAsmart to enhance the computer science programs at all grade levels and increase opportunities for students to participate in robotics education at the secondary level.

“We are excited to be a recipient of this grant because it will allow us to expand our initiatives in STEM throughout the school district. We are planning to increase our faculty training in the area of computer science which can enhance our student learning in STEM areas,” said Dr. Charles Lentz, Superintendent of New Hope-Solebury School District. “We are also looking to integrate computer science across various subject areas and grade levels to expose our students to computational thinking and minimize barriers of access to computer science programming. This grant will be instrumental in allowing us to offer more comprehensive STEM activities throughout our school district.”

During the current school year, Pennsbury elementary schools launched a STEM program called SPARK. With the funds from the PAsmart grant, Pennsbury middle schools and the Applied Engineering and Technology Education department will be introducing a new curriculum called Project Lead the Way.

“This grant will provide the opportunity for students to continue to develop age appropriate STEM skills in middle school before they have the opportunity to take courses such as Robotics & Coding, Engineering and Product Design at Pennsbury High School,” said Jessica Perfetto, Applied Engineering and Technology Education District Curriculum Coordinator at Pennsbury High School West.

To learn more about PAsmart funding opportunities through the Pennsylvania Department of Education, click here.

For more information on the PAsmart initiative, click here.

Sen. Steve Santarsiero represents the 10th Senatorial District, which includes: Bedminster Township, Buckingham Township, Chalfont, Doylestown, Doylestown Township, Dublin, East Rockhill Township, Falls Township, Haycock Township, Hilltown Township, Lower Makefield Township, Morrisville, New Britain, New Britain Township, New Hope, Newtown, Newtown Township, Perkasie, Plumstead Township, Sellersville, Silverdale, Solebury Township, Telford, Tullytown, Upper Makefield Township, West Rockhill Township, and Yardley.