Citizen Schools is pleased to announce it has received a two-year grant from theLemelson Foundation to support Citizen Schools’ inclusion of invention education in its national apprenticeship initiative. The grant, totaling just under $500,000, is the second the foundation has provided to Citizen Schools—a national non-profit focused on enriching the education of middle school students in six states through Expanded Learning Time (ELT) programs held during after school hours. “Citizen Schools is deeply appreciative of this renewed investment from the Lemelson Foundation,” said Emily McCann, CEO of Citizen Schools. “The Foundation’s distinctive focus on invention is a natural match for Citizen Schools’ apprenticeship model, which emphasizes innovation, collaboration, and providing young people with opportunities to be producers and not just consumers. This ensures our students are not only inspired, but actually educated about the invention process and invention careers.”

“The Lemelson Foundation is thrilled to support Citizen School’s apprenticeship program, which integrates Invention Education, enabling students to become inventors who identify problems and use STEM skills to solve them,” said David Coronado, program officer with the Lemelson Foundation. “We need to cultivate the next generation of inventors who will tackle critical social and environmental challenges, and reach and serve communities with the greatest needs.”

This new grant will build directly on the first phase of the project, in which more than 600 students at Citizen Schools’ California and Massachusetts campuses were engaged in volunteer-led after school apprenticeships focused on inventing. Based on preliminary data collected in the fall of 2015, 87% of students who completed an invention apprenticeship reported at least some interest in taking another apprenticeship in this sector. Over the next two years, more than 900 additional students in at least six states will be participating in invention apprenticeships led by more than 100 volunteers.

Media Contact:

Darcie Fisher Ellis Strategies, Inc. darcie@ellisstrategies.com | 774-281-3506

About Citizen Schools

Citizen Schools is a national nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for children in low-income communities. Citizen Schools mobilizes a team of AmeriCorps educators and volunteer “Citizen Teachers” to teach real-world learning projects and provide academic support in order to help all students discover and achieve their dreams. For more information, please visit http://www.citizenschools.org/

About The Lemelson Foundation

Based in Portland, The Lemelson Foundation uses the power of invention to improve lives. Inspired by the belief that invention can solve many of the biggest economic and social challenges of our time, the Foundation helps the next generation of inventors and invention-based businesses to flourish. The Lemelson Foundation was established in the early 1990s by prolific inventor Jerome Lemelson and his wife Dorothy. To date the Foundation has made grants totaling over $200 million in support of its mission. For more information, visithttp://www.lemelson.org

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