STEAM with Sphero Robotics 

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to help fund STEAM with Sphero Robotics. This exciting project helped teach children the concept of coding.

Students designed and built mazes using measurement and engineering, drew and coded paths using architecture and computer science and wrote algorithms and bug fixes to have the Sphero successfully complete the maze. 

The process of writing an algorithm with bug fixes taught students problem solving and perseverance to complete a challenging task.

Supplies 4 Success 

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation partnered with the Citrus County Education Foundation to help with Supplies 4 Success, a store that helps local teachers get free school supplies for their classrooms.

Our funding will benefit over 1,100 teachers and close to 16,000 students within our school district. Teachers can come in and fill their Suncoast Credit Union bags with necessary supplies once a month.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink 

A grant from the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation helped fund Everything But the Kitchen Sink, a creative project for students at Barron Collier High School. 

Students learned three different hand-building techniques using traditional clay tools, then they were challenged to think outside of the box and use regular kitchen tools to create work using the hand-building techniques.

This helped students learn to use divergent thinking to create beautiful work.

Phonics For All

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to help a teacher from West Elementary School share her love for phonics with the school’s staff and students. 

Our grant funded professional development for teachers and direct instruction for students for the program Spalding Phonics.  This research-based program teaches all students to spell, write and read. 

Suncoast Credit Union Scholars

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation awarded $2,000 scholarships to two high school seniors in Dixie County as part of the Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program. We are proud to support public education and help future generations achieve their goals.

Artist in Residence

VSAFL’s artist in residence program educates and positively impacts children with disabilities in schools and DJJ facilities in the counties served by Suncoast Credit Union. The residency program contributes to student outcomes by providing arts learning experiences directly to students with disabilities in order to increase their artistic skills and cognitive learning, as well as provide a venue for them to express themselves creatively in appropriate ways. Our children are confident, encouraged, empowered, and ready to tackle obstacles that they use to see as this program provides professionally trained teaching artists to lead art learning experiences for students with disabilities.

Microscopes for Moore Haven Middle High School

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was excited to fund the purchase of new microscopes for Moore Haven Middle High School. These new microscopes are used in classes, including biology, chemistry and forensic science. 

Our STEM funding of the new microscopes will have a lasting impact on the science program at Moore Haven Middle High School.

Hardee Academic Team

It was an honor to award Hardee High School’s academic team with a grant to help them compete in the state competition. These funds let the team purchase matching shirts so they looked professional for the competition.

YMCA After School and Summer Camp Programs

The afterschool and summer camp programs provide a fun, safe place for kids to learn, grow and thrive. The programs are educational based and focus on current school curriculum. The student’s GPAs and test scores increased during this program. Plus they learned invaluable life skills while having fun and making new friends!

United Way of Hernando County Imagination Library

With the help of Suncoast the United Way of Hernando County and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to provide one free, age appropriate book a month to each child enrolled from birth to 5 years regardless of their family’s economic status. The United Way targets potential children through local preschools, the Hernando County School system, and by other United Way early literacy initiatives such as the "Little Free Libraries" (free book stations throughout Hernando parks, waiting rooms, etc.) and the "Born Learning Trails" (trail signs installed throughout parks that engage parents and caregivers in hopes of them actively interacting with their young ones). These efforts open opportunities for parents/caregivers to ask questions, communicate other life concerns, and it gives us the ability to do what we do best and that is connecting those in need of help with local resources that provide hope.

Build a Story

Teaching students with special needs can be a challenge since each child is in such a different place with their learning and they may require different adaptations or modes of presentation to access learning. That’s why the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to fund Build a Story, a project that targets skills related to retelling a story through students building characters and settings with Lego Duplo blocks.

Even a nonverbal student can be successful retelling a story by demonstrating understanding of the story by building and acting the story out with props. Students also develop social/emotional skills as they work side-by-side or together and STEAM skills as they create or build. 

Student Spaceflight Program

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation has sponsored the Student Spaceflight program for the past five years in conjunction with the Hillsborough County School district and the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education. 

Hillsborough County Public Schools got to design and propose real science experiments to fly to the International Space Station. In the 2017-2018 school year 4,200 students were immersed in real science by designing experiments constrained by microgravity. 

Student submissions were selected through a two-step proposal review process; a formal NASA flight safety review for the selected flight experiments and a research conference at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC for reporting of the experiment results. 

That Lives Here and Does What??!

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation funded the “That Lives Here and Does What??!” program. Lee County students learned the importance of invertebrates in our local ecosystem through classroom activities and a wading trip to Estero Bay. Students then applied their knowledge by planting aquatic plants around the shoreline of the school's pond. 

Classroom Grants

Suncoast Credit Union has partnered with the Levy County Schools foundation on multiple classroom grants. One of those grants this school year, was titled, “Meeting the Needs of All Readers.” This grant impacted 15 teachers and over 150 students at Chiefland Elementary School. The grant provided resources to be able to put decodable readers in the hands of 2nd and 3rd grade students who are struggling to meet grade level expectations in the area of reading. Suncoast Credit Union has been a supported and advocate for literacy in our district for several years and the impact they’ve had on our students is tremendous.

Book Buddy Program

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation helped fund the Book Buddy program in four schools in Manatee County. This program is designed to engage and motivate third, fourth and fifth grade students to continue to excel in reading and to provide them with a forum to demonstrate their responsibility and leadership.

Intermediate students act as mentors for primary aged students. These students meet two to three times a week to read together. Then they complete reading logs and written responses.

Kinder Tool Kits 

Thanks to a grant from Suncoast Credit Union, almost 700 kindergarten students in Marion County were positively impacted by the Kinder Tool Kit project. The Kinder Tool Kits contain learning materials for students to use at home with their parents. The kindergarten parents were invited to school to receive the Kits and were provided valuable training on the standards being taught in kindergarten and how to use the Kinder Tool Kits to help support learning at home. The parents were thrilled to get the tools and training to be able to help their students.

One Community Now Hunger Walk

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to sponsor the One Community Now Hunger Walk. This organization helps meet unmet and under met needs in the Pasco community.

The Hunger Walk raised awareness in our community about childhood hunger. The money raised provided more than 20,000 sacks of food to the children of Pasco for the Pack A Sack program. 

St. Pete Arts Alliance  

Funding Futures grants provide an opportunity to outstanding students to further their artistic success.  Creative thinking, problem solving, communication and cooperation – these attributes and skills, learned through the making of art, contribute to the mental and emotional growth of a child. 

Many talented students do not have the funds for musical instruments; art equipment and supplies; individual or adult master class instruction; or tuition for summer arts programs.  The Arts Alliance is creating the ACE Funding Futures fund to help students develop their talents.  

The Arts Alliance believes that training in the arts promotes the development of leadership, academic and life skills.  The students that step forward wanting to pursue arts education, in music, dance, theater or the visual arts, are the ones most capable of lifelong success.  Studies have proven that arts education builds leadership and innovation; encourages involvement; promotes dependability; and encourages academic achievement.

WE3 EXPO

Over 10,000 Polk county students were introduced to a wide variety of schools options at the WE3 EXPO. Innovative programs were showcased by teachers and students at hundreds of booths. Students were able to explore career academies, including STEM, find arts, International Baccalaureate, JROPTC and technical education.

The Children’s Guardian Fund

Through a grant from Suncoast Credit Union Foundation, the Children’s Guardian Fund provides an ideal opportunity for children who have spent many years living in abusive and violent situations to attend specialized summer camps and activities.

These summer experiences are carefully selected to meet the unique needs of each child. They develop new coping skills that will support them as they return to school and tackle academic challenges that often seem very great in view of past problems.

FIRST LEGO League Jr. Challenge

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was pleased to provide funding to Sumter County Schools for the FIRST LEGO League Jr. Challenge. Teams from each of Sumter’s elementary schools participated in the twelve week program to explore a real-world theme with an exclusive LEGO Education Inspire Model.

As they work, they learn basic engineering and programming skills and apply those concepts to make their model move. Teams also document their work in an engineering notebook and share their journey through a team poster.