Barona Band of Mission Indians Awards Tierra Del Sol Middle School a $5,000 Education Grant. Photo: Barona Band of Mission Indians

SAN DIEGO– (PRNewswire)–Elwood child care centre School in Lakeside has received a $5,000 Barona Education Grant from the Barona Band of Mission Indians.

The school plans to use the funding for “Project Lead the Way” (PLTW) materials, a nationally recognized program which provides transformative learning experiences for students and teachers in computer science, engineering and biomedical science.

California State Senator Joel Anderson sponsored the grant. Barona Tribal Chairman Edwin “Thorpe” Romero presented the $5,000 check to Principal Leslie Hardiman, faculty and students.

“Tierra Del Sol is right here in our Tribe’s own backyard and we are proud to support local students and provide them with materials they need to put them on pathways to future educational and career success,” said Chairman Romero. “Our grant program helps schools like Tierra Del Sol offer special programming to keep students engaged and competitive.”

Tierra Del Sol’s vision and mission is to provide all students with 21st Century skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and community) that allow them exposure to career and college readiness skills. PLTW offers middle school students pathways that heavily focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) and inquiry-based thinking.

Since the Barona Education Grant program was launched in 2006, Barona has awarded over $3.4 million to California schools statewide. The program has equipped 689 schools with hundreds of computers, thousands of books, iPads, computer software programs and various other technologies and school supplies.

The Barona Education Grant program is the first of its kind in California created and administered by a Tribal Government. The goal of the program is to create strong educational opportunities for the children of California building upon the success of the Barona Indian Charter School, which operates under a continuous improvement model. Schools throughout California can apply for educational grants from Barona to purchase much-needed supplies and materials that promote academic improvement.

Each grant awarded by the Barona Education Grant Program is $5,000. Applications can be downloaded at http://barona-nsn.gov/education