BCIT Foundation for Students / Grants To BCIT

Lockheed Martin supports Robotics Clubs at both campuses

Lockheed Martin has continued its support of Robotics Clubs that regularly involve 30-40 students at each BCIT campus. A recent grant will cover some costs of equipment, supplies and competition fees.

Lockheed Martin channels much of its grant-giving to STEM-based instruction, and the company has nearly tripled its donations to BCIT in the past four years. (July 2018)

South Jersey Industries covers costs of instructional upgrades

South Jersey Industries awarded the BCIT Foundation a grant to buy equipment that will upgrade the way Westampton’s HVAC/R students will learn to create copper tubing and pipes. Students currently learn how to manually create fittings to rejoin copper tubing to refrigerant lines, and that can be a difficult process for some younger students who don’t have the muscle maturity necessary. The grant will provide hydraulically powered swaging kits that rely more on the user’s accurate data input than the user’s physical power. In addition, the grant will cover costs of ratcheting-style tube bender kits. Those also require students to accurately mark, measure and bend copper pipe, but they allow joint-less change in direction that leaves the pipe less vulnerable to leaks.

South Jersey Industries is a collection of utilities that includes South Jersey Gas and South Jersey Energy. SJI names vocational career development as one of its philanthropic priorities, and it has given the Foundation grants for the school in each of the past five years. (April 2018)

BCIT Foundation supports the PRIDE Program at both campuses

BCIT Foundation's Board of Trustees voted to allocate almost $4,000 to the PRIDE Program, split between both campuses. The funds will be used to continue the weekly drawings that offer PRIDE card-holders a chance to win Wawa or Dunkin Donuts gift cards, and help pay for end-of-year events that recognize student participation in this program. PRIDE rewards students for the kinds of positive behaviors that contribute to positive academics. The Foundation is committed to finding ways to support PRIDE, and welcomes donations from companies and individuals. (March 2018)

Haines Family covers costs of high-tech teaching tool

The Haines Family Foundation, a longtime supporter of BCIT, awarded a grant to BCIT Foundation to cover costs of the high-tech Anatomage Alpha table. It will be housed in the Sports Medicine classroom at Westampton campus, and used by that group plus the students in the Allied Health programs. The Anatomage is about the size of a 42-inch flat-screen television, but mounted screen-side-up like a table. Teachers rely on the Anatomage tablet to show students what’s under the human skin. It uses highly detailed and photorealistic images to promote an experience similar to that of a medical school lab. It allows virtual dissection so students can look through the human body one layer at a time. Students can drive the learning as they tap on, pinch to widen, and squeeze to close images the same way they do on their smart phones. Teachers and students prefer the interactive tablet to standard, passive textbooks, which require flipping pages to see layers and offer no easy way to zoom in and out. BCIT has been incorporating virtual reality teaching tools into its curricula with great success, and the Anatomage tablet would take that practice into the school’s health-related career majors. (February 2018)

Ellis Family Foundation gives PRIDE

The Ellis Family Foundation awarded a $1,000 grant to BCIT Foundation to support the PRIDE program at both campuses. Through PRIDE (Personal Responsibility In Daily Effort), BCIT recognizes the kinds of positive behaviors that contribute to positive academics. PRIDE purchases have included trophies that recognize staff and students on a monthly basis; gift cards handed out to reward students; and refreshments and entertainment for end-of-year events. This is the second consecutive year that the Ellis Family Foundation has seen the value of the PRIDE Program. (December 2017)

Lockheed Martin helps with Robotics Club and Drone Initiative

Lockheed Martin, a consistent donor to the BCIT Foundation, will provide funding that will offset costs of a Robotics Club at Medford and enhance the new Drone Initiative at both campuses.

Lockheed is the primary sponsor of the Medford Robotics Club, which has seen a steady increase in student involvement since forming in 2012. The grant will supplement school funding and club fundraising, serving as an important factor in the team’s ability to pay competition fees and replace consumable supplies including structural material, motors, wires and game elements.

Lockheed will also support the new Drone Initiative that is part of the Pre-Engineering program. Specifically, the donation will cover costs of some supplies that can be used with a 3D printer to create drone frames. The grant will also support programmable boards for the drones and objects like flags and pool noodles for an obstacle course where students can test drones.

Lockheed Martin channels much of its grant-giving to STEM-based instruction, and the company has nearly tripled its donations to BCIT in the past four years. (June 2017)

South Jersey Industries provides learning tool for HVAC students

South Jersey Industries awarded the BCIT Foundation a grant to buy equipment that HVAC/R students will use as they learn how to diagnose and repair components in the field. The gauges and wireless transmitter allow technicians to get data from an outdoor compressor, for example, while they are inside measuring air temperature output. While the BCIT classroom doesn’t face the same distance challenges as exist in the field, the school wants graduates to be familiar with the kind of technology they will see on the job.

South Jersey Industries is a collection of utilities that includes South Jersey Gas and South Jersey Energy. SJI names voc-tech education as one of its philanthropic priorities, and it has given the Foundation grants for the school in each of the past four years. (October 2016)

BCIT Foundation commits $20,000 to "Literacy for Life"

BCIT Foundation helped support the school's fast-tracked intervention plan that provides supplemental skilled development in literacy for high school students. Phase one of the literacy initiative includes the purchase of books with a focus on high school topics written at various reading levels. Also part of this phase is the hiring of consultants to guide teachers in the targeted literacy strategies needed. Books and supplemental materials for phase one are estimated to cost $20,000, fully funded by the BCIT Foundation. Consultant costs in phase one will cost about $16,000, and will be provided by the district.

“Our Literacy for Life Initiative will encourage independent student reading to build stamina, become more proficient readers, and develop a positive literacy culture,” remarked Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Christopher Nagy.

As part of this initiative, students will have access to high interest, lower reading leveled young adult books, online leveled periodicals and articles, and magazine subscriptions. Students will be tested according to their instructional reading levels using assistive technology and hands-on phonics material. (September 2016)

Haines Family Foundation covers costs of heavy-duty vehicle lift

A generous grant from the Haines Family Foundation has covered costs of a new, heavy-duty lift for the Heavy Equipment/Diesel Technology program at Westampton campus. The donation will replace the shop’s 40-year-old vehicle lift, a key piece of instructional equipment that allows complete underbelly access to a vehicle’s mechanics.

BCIT Foundation thanks the Haines Family for its strong support of education in general and BCIT in particular.

The four columns of this specialty lift can be repositioned inside or outside, making it versatile for a variety of vehicles. It is surface-mounted, so it doesn’t require excavation for installation and it can be relocated. The lift operates with wireless controls, which eliminate the need for communication cables that can be cumbersome and hazardous to inexperienced students.

BCIT enrolls 35 students in its Heavy Equipment/Diesel Technology program – double the number of four years ago. Graduates have the skills needed to enter the labor market in a variety of industries including construction, electrical generation, and transportation. Students are trained in all major fleet systems, and they become adept in the use of common and specialized tools required by that trade. Post-high school career paths include diesel engine mechanic, heavy duty equipment mechanic, superintendent of maintenance, and shop foreman.

The Haines Family Foundation is a longtitme supporer of BCIT. Matriarch Sara N. Haines was a charter member of its school board, she served as its president, and she was a strong supporter of education. (May 2016)

BCIT Foundation awarded three teacher grants, using proceeds from Designer Bag Bingo fundraisers to meet its mission.

• Laptops for Dental Occupations/Dental Assisting (Westampton campus)

The dental program requested additional laptop computers and a printer to accommodate higher enrollment in both the high school and adult classes. They will be used for both age groups. Students need computers to access lecture materials, work on research projects, and complete all testing.

3D Printer (Westampton campus)

A 3-dimensional printer will help students understand the fundamentals of mechanical design. They will be able to produce full- or scale-sized prototypes from their computer-based projects. The printer would be used primarily by about 40 students at Westampton's Architecture and Design program, with added use by Pre-Engineering, Robotics, Exploratory and Summer Programs. This equipment will be ordered for use starting Fall 2016.

Online Vocabulary Instruction (Medford campus)
The Foundation will purchase a one-year subscription to a specialized vocabulary service starting Fall 2016. It will be used in all 9th grade English classes at Medford to help build students' vocabulary and comprehension. It focuses on tier 2 (academic) and tier 3 (content and shop specific) words. This pilot project supports the district's commitment to literacy development with the intent of proving its value for future use at both campuses.
(February 2016)