PIE Receives $100K OH Department of Education Mentoring Grant
PIE Receives $100,000 Community Connectors Grant from Ohio Department of Education
CINCINNATI – (June 23, 2016) Cincinnati-based Partnership for Innovation in Education (PIE) has received its second consecutive Community Connectors grant from the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). The $100,000, matched by over $300,000 in cash and in-kind regional university and private foundation grants, will support PIE’s programs, featuring ways Greater Cincinnati students, educators and business organizations can create world-class transformational educational tools to accelerate academic achievement, problem-solving and social/emotional “life skills” in 32 Cincinnati Public Schools with five partner organizations, serving over 5,000 students.
PIE has distinguished itself as a leading curriculum provider to school districts across the United States and has received an ODE “Straight A” Grant and two consecutive Community Connectors mentoring grants. Its programs allow business and arts leaders to become “hands on” career guides in the K-12 classroom using design-thinking tools typically reserved for students in graduate and undergraduate law, business, engineering, art, medical and informatics classrooms. PIE received a Community Connectors grant from the ODE in 2015 for its one-on-one mentoring program during the 2015 -2016 school year, which involved 156 classrooms and 32 schools, reached 5,000 fifth through ninth grade students and included 5,000 local mentors.
“We are honored to receive this funding and support from the ODE for our programs, which help Ohio students gain hands on career experience through problem-solving learning and mentoring opportunities with local business and community leaders,” said Mary Welsh Schlueter, CEO of PIE. “Students gain confidence and life skills which help offer learning relevance and global readiness for their future careers.”
“We are excited to be a partner organization of PIE. Through these programs, we work with PIE to help local students learn more about future career pathways and develop valuable new skill sets. We hope to ignite a spark that encourages these local students to pursue emerging global careers that bridge classroom learning and authentic working opportunities with our Ohio partners,” said Janice Urbanik, executive director of Partners for a Competitive Workforce.
Established in 2014 by the governor and Ohio legislature, the ODE Community Connectors program brings together students, their parents, schools, communities, faith or values based organizations and businesses in mentoring programs. The grant program seeks to strengthen communities, encourage mentoring opportunities and create new pathways for civic engagement that will result in high educational achievement, higher levels of well-being and health, and workforce readiness for Ohio.
To learn more about the Community Connectors grant program, visit http://communityconnectors.ohio.gov/.
About PIE
Partnership For Innovation In Education (PIE) develops transformational educational tools preparing the 21st century workforce for success in the global marketplace. PIE features first-ever career simulation and mentoring alliances with business, education and arts organizations, providing hands-on learning in the K-16 classroom. PIE is a 501c3 nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, awarded the GuideStar Nonprofit “Gold Exchange” Ranking and is an Ohio School District Partner. For more information, visit www.piemedia.org or follow @PIE_Innovation on Twitter.
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