The EYEPlay program is teaching literacy through play to young children in Phoenix, Arizona.
Students at Hillsborough Community College are reaching their goals of postsecondary education success in Tampa, Florida.
Helios is working to ensure students in Arizona and Florida are prepared to succeed in postsecondary education.

Helios’ 2013 Community
Impact Initiatives

Helios Education Foundation believes every individual in Arizona and Florida should have the opportunity to attend and be prepared to succeed in postsecondary education. In order to create those opportunities, the Foundation strategically partners with organizations and institutions to improve student academic preparedness across the education continuum and to foster a high expectation, college-going culture for all students.

The Foundation views its role as much more than a grant-making organization, but as an actively engaged partner, working in communities across Arizona and Florida contributing its expertise and resources to improve education systems and set more students on a path to completing a postsecondary license, certificate or degree.

Partnerships are cultivated and strategically aligned to advance the Foundation’s priorities in Early Grade Success, College and Career Readiness and Postsecondary Completion. Additional investments are also made in Innovative Initiatives.

Below is a summary of the Foundation’s 2013 Community Investments.

Early Grade Success

$125,000

Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County
Early Childhood Assessment Convening

Helios Education Foundation partnered with the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County and the University of South Florida to host an early childhood convening in Tampa, Florida. Recognized national and local experts and practitioners engaged in a discussion focused on the availability, appropriateness, limitations, alignment and future direction of early childhood assessments, particularly as they relate to program evaluation and statewide school readiness policy and practice.

$487,000

Literacy Connects
Literacy Infusion Model

Literacy Connects provides research-based literacy programming for children birth through age eight in Tucson, Arizona. The project addresses critical needs such as kindergarten readiness, reading at grade level by third grade, English language reading and writing, one-on-one literacy support, and opportunities for learning through creative expression and arts integration, such as painting, drawing, dance and drama.

$500,000

United Way of Yuma County
Early Literacy Collaborative
The Yuma Early Literacy Collaborative aligns with the state literacy plan; integrates the best practices being implemented in other Helios-funded communities and targets programs and services that specifically support the needs for children birth-8 in Yuma County.
College & Career Readiness

$575,000

ACT, Inc.
Arizona ACT District Choice State Test - Year Six

Funding of the ACT District Choice State Test in Arizona provides 14 school districts across Arizona with data and tools to support the development of college- and career-ready students. More than 82,000 students have taken the ACT as part of this initiative over the last six years.

$208,000

Arizona Community Foundation
Northern Arizona College Resource Center

The Northern Arizona College Resource Center strives to increase the number of students who apply for, are admitted to and attend college by providing the technical assistance, guidance and referrals students and their families need to ensure postsecondary education success. A part of the Center’s focus is to improve the college-going rates on five Native American reservations and the schools that serve them in Northern Arizona, where the college-going rates are much lower than the state average.

$266,500

Arizona Science Center
STEM Teaching and Learning Continuum – Planning Phase

Helios has partnered with the Arizona Science Center to improve classroom instruction in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) areas. Helios investment supports a planning phase to help the districts design teaching practices and learning opportunities across the education continuum that integrate critical college-and-career ready skills, such as problem-solving, critical-thinking and collaboration.

$150,000

Arizona Technology Council
Arizona SciTech Festival

Helios Education Foundation's funding is helping support the annual Arizona SciTech Festival which hosts a series of events, workshops, conversations, exhibitions and debates that showcase how science, technology and innovation can drive communities in the future.

$800,000

College for Every Student
CFES STEM Program: Tampa Bay Area

College for Every Student works to increase the number of underserved youth pursuing STEM in college and career. The program strives to serve a minimum of 175 low-income students in grades 6-12 in the Tampa Bay area throughout four districts over three years. A key objective is to increase interest, knowledge and skills within STEM fields.

$225,000

Metropolitan Education Commission
Regional College Access Center

The Metropolitan Education Commission’s establishment of a Regional College Access Center (RCAC) continues its mission to improve accessibility and success for Arizona college students in Pima County, Arizona. The initiative focuses on low-income and first-generation college students. RCAC aids in preparing students and providing funding for college, in helping them advance toward graduation and in supporting workforce development.

$105,000

Tucson Festival of Books
Science City Sponsorship

Science City is a part of the annual Tucson Festival of Books hosted on the University of Arizona campus. Science City’s purpose is to expand the public view of STEM and engage individuals in the importance and relevancy of STEM in everyday life. The pavilion is filled with enriching, hands-on activities, exhibits, lectures and shows all related to science and technology.

$667,000

University of Arizona Foundation
Native SOAR – Student Outreach, Access and Resiliency

The Native American SOAR program is a mentoring and service learning program focused on Native American high school students who will be mentored by Native American graduate students from the University of Arizona. Native SOAR is a three-year project that is empowering and preparing Native American youth living in Tucson and the surrounding Native American Reservation communities for higher education access and success. The goal is to increase the number of Native American students who pursue and complete high school and higher education.

$1,500,000

University of South Florida
Florida College Access Network Capacity Building and Network Development Project

The Florida College Access Network (Florida CAN) is Florida’s first collaborating network of national, state and local groups committed to increasing the number of working adults who hold a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential. Florida CAN works toward engaging communities in higher education through the promotion of programs and policy changes that can improve college-preparation, access and completion for underrepresented, limited-income and first-generation students.

$2,736,000

University of South Florida Foundation
Helios STEM Middle School Residency Program: Transforming STEM Teacher Preparation for the Transition Years

The Helios STEM Middle School Residency Program: Transforming STEM Teacher Preparation for the Transition Years is a collaborative partnership between Helios Education Foundation, the University of South Florida’s colleges of Education and Arts and Sciences and Hillsborough County Public Schools to build a teacher preparation pipeline that will place 80 STEM teachers in Hillsborough County public middle schools by 2017.

$440,000

Yuma Union High School District
Ready Now Yuma

Ready Now Yuma is a multi-year partnership between Helios Education Foundation and Yuma Union High School District in Yuma, Arizona, to ensure that every student is challenged, supported and prepared to succeed in college and career. The Ready Now Yuma evaluation and communication investment provides additional resources to Yuma Union High School District to implement an evaluation plan as well as further expand Ready Now Yuma’s communications and community engagement activities.
Postsecondary Completion

$100,000

Arizona College Scholarship Foundation (ACSF)
Capacity Planning

This investment assists the Arizona College Scholarship Foundation in developing a comprehensive three-year business and strategic plan to position it for growth and broader statewide impact on postsecondary education success.

$1,000,000

Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund of Metro Orlando
Building Student Supports

The Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund of Metro Orlando provides scholarships to Hispanic students pursuing a college or university degree. The Helios investment establishes a scholarship endowment and supports the development of a comprehensive, multi-year strategic framework and business plan to specifically address college persistence, degree completion and pathways to careers in fields of high demand.
Innovative Initiatives

Expect More Arizona/Arizona Community Foundation
NBC News’ Education Nation “On-the Road” Tour - Phoenix

Helios Education Foundation partnered with NBC News to bring the Education Nation “On-the-Road” tour to Phoenix, Arizona, in May 2013. The Education Nation activities included town-hall style forums involving teachers, students and business, government, education and other community leaders discussing Arizona’s most pressing education issues. The goal was to create a local forum for sharing information, exchanging ideas, inspiring change and identifying solutions that better prepare Arizona students for postsecondary education success.

$150,000

Aspen Forum for Community Solutions
Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund

This investment helps fund an Opportunity Youth Grant to the Tucson community through the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions. The collaborative, led locally by the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, will harness the power of cross-sector collaboration to make substantive progress for opportunity youth, defined as youth ages 16-24 who are disconnected from education and work.

$1,000,000

SRI International
Center for Digital Learning

Helios Education Foundation is partnering with SRI International to develop a Florida-based Center for Digital Learning which will create a portfolio of digital learning projects to enhance student achievement.

Helios’ 2013 Community Impact Initiatives

Early Grade Success

College & Career Readiness

Postsecondary Completion

Innovative Initiatives

Helios’ 2013 Community
Impact Initiatives