by Fatiha Betscher, Albany, Bahamas …

It will soon be 23-years since the proud launch of the TGR Foundation and named after 14-time Major winning Tiger Woods.

Much has been proudly achieved since 1996 when Tiger and his father, Earl Woods decided to create and support community-based programs that improve the health, education, and welfare of all children in America.

Fifty learning labs have been created with over 175,000 students already benefiting and producing 194 college scholars. The TGR Learning Labs employ 1,000 educators each year.

And what’s also very important is that over $150m has been raised for charity through such PGA Tour events as the Genesis Open, the National, the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and ‘The Match’ that took place last week in Las Vegas.

These events, along with the ‘Tiger Jam’ all benefit and impact the lives of millions of under-privileged minority children

Tiger and his late father founded TGR under the auspices of about empowering minorities and this goal has remained unchanged and it is for these students to be given the support and resources needed to be successful in school and beyond.

The foundation has been so successful due to its goal of “developing self-advocacy skills in young people,” that their students have a 98.7% college graduation rate, which is one of the highest graduation rates of a scholarship program in the country.

It is something that Woods himself is clearly very proud as evident when he spoke earlier in the year in announcing his Foundation was being renamed – The TGR Foundation.

“Over the last 21 years, my foundation has grown to be larger than just me, and today I’m excited to announce our new name, TGR Foundation (pronounced ‘T-G-R’), that reflects this growth,” said Woods.

 

“TGR Foundation belongs to the community and the students we serve. We’ve accomplished so much over the years, but we’ve just scratched the surface. I look forward to the next stage of our journey.”

One of the greatest things about this foundation is that Tiger Woods created this program because he saw a hole in the society that he wanted to fill. He created this foundation because “I wanted a permanent, safe space for kids to explore their dreams” -Tiger Woods.

He and his late father proudly founded this program to help impoverished children and young adults, and in the past 22 years of it being opened, he has exceeded all expectations of this foundation.

TGR EDU: EXPLORE

FEATURED RESOURCES:

INTERGRATED STEM (iSTEM) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Jason Porter has written the following article appearing on the TGR Foundation website and with thanks to TGR it is reprinted hereunder.

With the combination of dedicated science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educators, leaders and a professional learning series on student-centered instructional practices the Integrated STEM (iSTEM) professional development series was born. This professional development series was coordinated by both TGR Foundation, a Tiger Woods Charity, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) in Washington, DC. OSSE provided financial support for the iSTEM Development Program.

During winter, spring and summer of 2018, five Washington, DC schools participated in iSTEM, working to prepare STEM academic professionals to engage students in real-world connections to the content they are learning. Since the start of the series, all five schools have completed the iSTEM program and are currently in the process of implementing the initiatives developed through their strategic goal setting.

In September, participating iSTEM schools had one more site visit, the last of three, to show their mentor and other iSTEM facilitators the initiatives they had implemented as a result of their iSTEM strategic planning. Visitors to two elementary schools, one middle school and one career academy were able to see a lot of great new programs in place.

During the visit, we observed students at Sousa Middle School participating in an integrated project-based learning unit focused on studying the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 and remembering the victims affected. Students also learned about the history of the tragedy, studied structures of buildings and how they respond to stresses and made memorial art projects to celebrate the memory of lives lost. This project was very meaningful for teachers and students alike and allowed students to study multiple perspectives of a single issue.

At the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) Career Academy, teachers were involved in a weekly professional learning community to integrate project-based learning at their school. Teachers and leaders from each program at the school including Information Technology, Medical Assistance and GED/College Preparation were represented in this professional learning community.

Their goal is to align the college bound classes with the IT and MA career tracks using real-world projects that capture the imagination of these soon-to-be professionals. Dr. Jacqueline Fernandez-Romero, Principal of LAYC Career Academy shared her appreciation for the iSTEM’s impact on their school.

“Thanks to the coaching and resources received from iSTEM, we can continue to provide excellent education in the classroom with the addition of students being more engaged and being able to develop additional skills that are relevant to their future careers,” she said. “We will be able to create opportunities and give resources to teachers, so they can become experts with project/problem-based learning initiatives.”