Letter to the editor: Google helps youth

Through my work with 4-H Youth Development in Wasco County, I have had the opportunity to see first hand how Google’s philanthropy has had a huge impact on STEM education in our community.

Google has given over $300,000 to Wasco County School District 21 for Computer Science programs. In an era where schools are stretching dollars, this investment helps D21 schools offer higher quality computer science education to more students so they are prepared for life after high school. For tomorrow’s high school graduates, going to college, doing vocational training, and excelling in most jobs require strong computer skills.

In addition to helping our schools train tomorrow’s leaders, Google’s support for afterschool and out-of-school programs in the Columbia River Gorge has impacted hundreds of students in the region. In 2014 alone, they gave over $80,000 to support robotics programs that give young people real-world engineering experiences.

This funding helped our mission to provide students with opportunities to “learn by doing” — which, when it comes to STEM, can be expensive. Google’s support has allowed 4-H to offer the program to more students, purchase needed materials and software for students to build robots, and provide students opportunities to test their skills in fun competitions.

Google has also supported many other student programs beyond robotics, including partnering with Columbia Gorge Community College to put on the Wind Challenge in 2014 and 2015, where hundreds of students learned how to build wind turbines through a fun, action-packed competition.

In my experience, Google is a strong community partner and I am tremendously appreciative of their support of STEM opportunities in our region. Thank you, Google, for all you do for our community.

Lynette Black

4-H Youth Development

The Dalles