The donation will support the league’s Be the STEM: Academic and STEM Career Mentoring Program.
SPRINGFIELD - The Urban League of Springfield was recently joined by representatives of Comcast for a special ceremony to announce the award of a $60,000 grant, payable over three years, from the Comcast Foundation.
The donation will support the league’s Be the STEM: Academic and STEM Career Mentoring Program.
The program, now in its sixth year, works with ninth-grade students and aims to ease the transition to high school and also expose participants to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines and career opportunities in order to help ensure future success.
Be the STEM encompasses a variety of components, including academic performance, leadership, social and communication skills which work together to increase participants’ personal, community, cultural and global awareness. Individual academic and college development plans help students set goals and provide benchmarks, as well as celebrate achievements and successes.
In addition to regular sessions, the program includes field trips to area colleges and cultural events in support of college preparedness and STEM development.
“The Comcast Foundation has three areas of focus – promoting community service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders, which is why the Be the STEM program here at the Urban League of Springfield was a natural choice for this grant,” said Mary McLaughlin, senior vice president for Comcast’s western New England region, which includes Western Massachusetts. “We are very proud to support this program which provides an educational, fun, and indispensable service in our community.”
Additionally, since so many school and work-related tasks must now be completed online, the Urban League of Springfield continues to be an advocate of Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption initiative for low-income families.
“The Urban League is excited about its ongoing partnership with Comcast as they continue to invest in youth development programming and in expanding access to broadband and Internet technology for under-served groups,” said Henry M. Thomas, III, president and CEO of the Urban League of Springfield.