Students in every grade in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) will now have the opportunity to experience hands-on, rigorous science education, thanks to a capstone grant from the Medtronic Foundation to support high school science laboratories, teachers and students.

For almost a decade, the school district has been focused on revitalizing science facilities and curriculum - starting with elementary, then middle and now high school - and the Medtronic Foundation has been an active, longtime partner for the district in making it happen. With the addition of this $550,000 high school revitalization grant, Medtronic's contributions to the Minneapolis K-12 science programs have now surpassed $1.8 million.

"As a long-term community partner with the Minneapolis Public Schools, Medtronic displays their unwavering belief in the importance of all students learning science," said David Jennings, interim superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools. "We are grateful for this partnership and this grant, which will ensure that Minneapolis high school students will experience - and experiment with - rigorous and challenging science. Moreover, with the addition of this grant to science programs in Minneapolis Public Schools, the support of the Medtronic Foundation has or will touch the lives of almost every one of our students, at every grade level."

For more than a decade, the Medtronic Foundation has supported science programs in MPS through the STAR (Science and Technology Are Rewarding) program, beginning with grants to individual teachers and school programs at a number of Minneapolis K-12 schools. The partnership progressed to larger scale, systemic efforts with a four-year grant in 1996 that allowed the district to successfully adopt a standards-based, hands-on science curriculum for elementary school students. This investment served as leverage for the district to obtain a significant grant from the National Science Foundation.

Following the district's investment in middle school science facilities, the Medtronic partnership grew in 2000 with another four-year grant from the foundation, this time for $650,000. This grant provided the equipment and materials necessary for the ongoing operation of the district's 48 middle school science laboratories, and funded 72 sets of hands-on science kits that focus on life, earth and physical science.

The Minneapolis Public Schools will use Medtronic's latest STAR grant over the next four years to support the district's work to revitalize science education in the high schools. Following an investment from MPS of $12 million to upgrade high school science laboratory classrooms over the past nine years, the STAR grant will:

• Provide all high school science teachers with updated science laboratory equipment and materials.
• Give high school science teachers access to appropriate standards-based curricula.
• Enhance the professional development of science teachers.
• Create an ongoing program for maintenance of secondary laboratory equipment.

"Medtronic is committed to enhancing the vitality of communities where our employees live and work - and we believe in the importance of strong public schools," said Penny Hunt, vice president of community affairs and executive director of the Medtronic Foundation. "We are thrilled that our STAR program has played a key role in the exciting transformation of science education at Minneapolis Public Schools, and we commend the district for their exhaustive efforts to make this vision a reality."

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