Community Impact

“This country is in the midst of a STEM and data literacy crisis,” opined Elena Gerstmann and Laura Albert in a recent piece for The Hill. Their sentiment represents a widely held concern that America’s global leadership in scientific and technological innovation, anchored in educational excellence, is being relinquished, thereby jeopardizing our economy and national security. Their message recycles a 65-year-old warning to U.S. policy makers, educators, and employers when the USSR seemingly eclipsed our innovation pace with the launch of Sputnik. 

Listen to Board Member Debbie Kovesdy talk about the Foundation and her other efforts to improve the educational landscape of Arizona.

GenTech, a community tech hub that provides personal tech support and STEM education programming, has launched the GenTech Foundation to bring its KidsTech program to more Valley schools, bridging the STEM education divide among students and allowing more kids the opportunity to explore their interest in technology. As part of its launch, the foundation has partnered with the City of Phoenix District 7 office to provide $10,000 in funding to the Murphy School District, which will bring GenTech’s award-winning KidsTech program to Kuban Elementary for the 2024/2025 school year.

The conclusion of the 2023-2024 school year marked a significant milestone for GenTech with our largest community event to date! The “Crazy Computer Build” deployment at Bethune Elementary School was a resounding success, with over 100 students and their families receiving a computer to take home.

Kenilworth School was excited to introduce GenTech’s STEM programs for its middle school students, starting the year with the popular “Crazy Computer Build” course. In this hands-on class, students learned the inner workings of computer hardware by disassembling and building their own computers. At the end of the course, each student took home a full computer setup, empowering them to continue exploring technology at home.

The GenTech program at Garfield Elementary School has been a transformative addition to a campus already committed to providing its students with diverse, hands-on learning experiences. Known for its innovative cooking and gardening programs, the school expanded its opportunities by introducing GenTech—a cutting-edge STEM program that empowers kids to explore technology.