Tag: TGR Foundation

Each summer before freshmen Earl Woods Scholars begin their collegiate journeys, the program’s pre-college retreat, designed to prepare them for success, provides an array of information and resources throughout the three-day experience.  

Joining three cohorts of 18 students from southern California and Washington D.C., the retreat took place primarily at the flagship TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim, CA.  

As a basketball fan, I was always curious about working for the National Basketball Association. The paths to NBA careers beyond the court aren’t as visible as those like Facebook or Google, but I believed it was possible if I built my experience and connections.

My job search process was untraditional for careers in the technology industry. The positions I thought I’d receive a response from, I didn’t, but I received unexpected interest from several companies including the NBA. I found my position through LinkedIn, and a recruiter contacted me for an interview. I went through a swift interview process that ended with an offer I accepted. After finishing my master’s program and taking a well-needed break, I began my role as a Project Software Engineer on the Stats Technology Product Development team.

Over the past two years serving as the volunteer coordinator, I have interacted with the TGR Learning Lab volunteers and interns, from recruitment to supervision. I have enjoyed the working relationships that have blossomed. My philosophy when supervising anyone is to allow meaningful interactions and effective communication. By doing so, I have gained much knowledge of who our volunteers are, what their goals are and what ambitions they have. Doing this allows me to be more knowledgeable about how to support them in their roles best and share any opportunities that will enable them to grow and prosper.  

As educators face challenges of distance learning and look for strategies to keep students engaged in virtual, in-person and hybrid class formats, TGR Foundation’s four-part series of STEM Studio trainings provided a solution with a domestic launch in Anaheim, CA. In close proximity, to the foundation’s flagship TGR Learning Lab, many Anaheim Union High School District educators had already been connected to our programs.  

 In the summer of 2021, the cohort model was launched with a group of teachers from Dale, Sycamore, Orangewood and Walker junior high schools participating in Virtual STEM Studio One, Inquiry Mindset. From there we have continued working with cohorts from Dale that have moved forward in our Inquiry Pathway to a second Inquiry Workshop, Making Thinking Visible.   

DoD STEM, leader of the Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC), has recently chosen TGR Foundation to manage their DoD STEM Ambassador Program for the 2021-2022 academic year.

In September of 2021, TGR Foundation welcomed 16 STEM Ambassadors from across the United States. These highly qualified educators were selected from a wide applicant pool and come equipped with a variety and wealth of knowledge in STEM-related fields across the k-12 spectrum. 

At 16, Abigail Yun has already discovered a passion for technology and begun pursuing opportunities to gain experience and explore potential career paths.

In partnership with Bitwise Industries, TGR Foundation offered its students access to an eight-week pre-apprenticeship training and introduction to web development to teach the fundamentals of HTML and CSS. Upon completion of the training and high school graduation, participants would have an opportunity to join its paid apprenticeship.

After learning about the training, Abigail signed up immediately. We recently connected with her to learn more about her experience and career outlook.

As an educator, I have always felt powerful opportunities present themselves all the time, you just have to have your eyes open to see when they are coming and to understand that they are in fact opportunities. This was definitely the case when members of the TGR Foundation programs team learned about an opportunity to partner with the D.K. Kim Foundation to grow an education initiative based in Colombia. At this moment, I was not very familiar with Colombia and was eager to learn more and see if it might be a fit for our professional learning work.

As we met with Olga Lucia Parga Nates and Renee Cowan, of Kim Integrated Health Management Initiative and the D.K. Kim Foundation, respectively, it became clear they had a similar mission as TGR Foundation – to support communities in closing the opportunity gap. This first meeting was full of great ideas and lofty goals, but it wasn’t until I met some of the Colombian teachers, we could work with that it is was clear we needed to work with them!

As we reflect on the many highlights of 2021 we can all acknowledge the change and revivals we experienced together. From advancements in medical approaches to the Coronavirus to the reopening of schools and businesses, this year gave us reasons to reflect where we’ve come from, celebrate how we moved forward and continue working toward a brighter future for everyone.

Growing up I was always fascinated by how things worked. I was the kid that took apart the remote control and put it back together again. My parents knew early on that if my hands were busy, so was my mind. And they knew I came alive when I was working with my hands.  

Sometimes, when my mom was off from work, she’d take me to a science store in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, across the river from our home in Philadelphia. I’d leave with some sort of D.I.Y. kit, like a baking soda volcano or a robot making set.   

My dad was on the road a lot, working as a truck driver, but when he’d come round, we’d sit for hours and build RC model planes. And sometimes, if we finished early enough, we’d head over to the airport, park the car and sit for hours, watching the planes take off and land. It never got old.  

Staring up into the sky, with my dad by my side and airplanes overhead, I knew, even as an eight-year-old kid from Philly, that I would be a pilot one day.  

I’m 21-years-old now, and nearly one year into my eighteen-month program at flight mechanic school. I’m excited about what awaits me after I graduate, but the road to get where I am today was not always clear or easy.   

With TGR Learning Lab campuses and the renowned Earl Woods Scholar Program impacting students across the country, TGR Foundation had established itself as a leader in STEM education and college-access by 2016. In spite of countless student success stories at that time, our founder, Tiger Woods, wanted to achieve more and set a goal to reach millions of students around the world. To reach that goal – in years, not decades – TGR Foundation began working to build a digital presence from the ground up.

We started by asking driving questions including and them with the launch of TGREDUExplore.org, a free platform developed in partnership with Discovery Education.