With TGR Learning Lab campuses and the renowned Earl Woods Scholar Program impacting students across the country,
TGR Foundation had established itself as a leader in STEM education and college-access by 2016. In spite of countless student success stories at that time,
our founder, Tiger Woods, wanted to achieve more and set a goal to reach millions of students around the world.
To reach that goal – in years, not decades – TGR Foundation began working to build a digital presence from the ground up.
We started by asking driving questions including:
What do students need to thrive?
How can in-person programs be recreated online and scaled to many?
What types of support do teachers need in the classroom?
Who are the right partners to make this vision a reality?
We answered those questions with the launch of TGREDUExplore.org, a free platform developed in partnership with Discovery Education.
The goal was to recreate the TGR Learning Lab experience online and provide it at no-cost to students, educators and families around the world. Designed and developed by TGR Foundation facilitators, resources include lesson plans, activities, digital modules, training videos and more. These free resources all provide standards-based and hands-on learning opportunities that propel students to create their own pathways and thrive in the future workforce.
Beginning in 2019, a series of professional learning modules for educators was added to the 100+ resources available on the site. Each module – roughly 30-minutes in length – derives from TGR Foundation’s professional learning program and provides educators of all levels and expertise with the tools and knowledge to infuse their teaching with student-centered, inquiry-based learning strategies.
In spring of 2020, TGR Foundation, like every individual, family and organization across the world, had to make immediate and drastic changes. While classes and events had to be postponed or cancelled, our mission still drove us to serve and we mobilized resources to continue providing ongoing support to students, educators and families.
Students across the country and educators from around the world now attend our virtual classes from the safety of their own homes. Our new at-home activities, called Family Design Challenges, encourage students and families to get creative with STEM using materials found around the home. Our STEM Unplugged video series provides students with quick yet challenging hands-on, at-home experiments. Two other new series of videos – College Tidbit and Teaching Tidbit – provide tips and strategies for high-school students interested in attending college and teachers looking for strategies to support students. All these new resources are now fully available on TGREDUExplore.org.
The entire staff poured everything they had into making sure students continued to receive support and guidance to excel during these challenging times. We recognize that digital learning is here to stay, but we understand that our lives cannot be lived entirely online, too. Students and teachers will be back in the classroom. Nothing can completely replace in-person learning. But we now have the tools to enhance in-person learning and share it with a much wider audience through the platform.
Thanks in large part to our digital programming, TGR Foundation has reached over 2 million students to date. Now, as we celebrate 25 years of impact, we look to forge new partnerships that allow us to expand our digital resource to transform education and provide access and equity to more students from marginalized communities.
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Source: Tampa Bay Times
