The Irvine Company presented IUSD with a check for $2 million as part of the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund grant, during the first Board of Education Meeting of 2019. The Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund supports art, music and science education for IUSD students in grades four through six.
This is the 13th installment of the Irvine Company’s $45 million commitment to IUSD students, totaling $26 million to date. In September 2016, Mr. Donald Bren and the Irvine Company announced that they would renew the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund grant with an additional $20 million over the next 10 years.
Thousands of students each year are positively impacted by the Enrichment Fund. To date, this unprecedented support has benefited more than 80,000 IUSD students.
Robin Leftwich, Vice President of Community Affairs for the Irvine Company, presented this year’s check to the IUSD Board of Education and to IUSD students. While introducing a group of Brywood sixth grade science students, who are currently benefitting from Irvine Company funds, Leftwich said, "I am so proud of the Enrichment Fund and the talented teachers it supports to benefit students.” She continued, “These funds help IUSD students find their passion in fourth through sixth grades, so they can really develop a lifelong love of learning.”
Brywood students from teacher Brian Cady’s sixth-grade science class presented their science projects to IUSD Board of Education members Paul Bokota, Lauren Brooks, Betty Carroll, Ira Glasky and Sharon Wallin, in addition to attendees and parents. The projects included:
- Video Games and Reaction Times – by Jacob Carrera and Nirav Michelsen
- Effects of different liquids on teeth – by Kai Nguyen and Esli Bisha
- Electrolyte Electrolysis – by Janani Manathattai and Aishwarya Ramasubramanian
- Invincible Enzymes – by Jay Ananth
- Rock Candy Rocks! – by Angela Chen, Jasmin Kwon and Amy Jeon
After thanking the Irvine Company for its unprecedented commitment, which helps set IUSD apart from other school districts, IUSD Board President Lauren Brooks said to students, “Your work is so impressive…we learned a lot. We really expect big things from you.” Brooks went on to say, “The Irvine Company’s Enrichment Fund puts students on the path to excellence and enables our talented teachers to work their magic in our classrooms.”
Superintendent Terry Walker stated that the Enrichment Fund has had a lasting and positive impact for IUSD students.
Established in 2006, the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund pays for specialists to work in IUSD’s fourth through sixth-grade classrooms. Students receive two 60-minute science lessons per week, two 40-minute music lessons per week and six hour-long art lessons per year, all taught by highly qualified instructors.
The program has been extremely popular in IUSD, enabling schools to preserve and continue hands-on courses.