Hikvision Supports STEM Education with Donation to Citizen Schools

• Mar 31, 2016

Hikvision USA announce their support of Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for children in low-income communities. Citizen Schools mobilizes teams of educators and volunteers to lead real-world learning projects and provide academic support, helping students discover and achieve their dreams. A generous donation from Hikvision USA will provide classroom supplies for 500 students across seven states and encourage them to become more engaged in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

Citizen Schools was founded in 1995 with the mission of “Educating Children, Strengthening Communities.” Their vision has been to close the opportunity and achievement gap by expanding the school day and engaging students in project-based learning. The organization focuses on schools that serve low-income populations, demonstrate low baseline academic performance, and lack existing high-quality mentoring programs. Tapping the power of hands-on learning and relying on the passion of volunteers, Citizen Schools advances students’ academic proficiency and self-efficacy. Students also build valuable “21^st century skills” that help them succeed in the information age. By supporting students at the middle school level, Citizen Schools sets them up for success in high school, encourages them to advance to college, and sees them become leaders in their careers and their communities.

Because low-income public schools often do not have the resources to provide students with hands-on STEM learning opportunities, Citizen Schools helps fill the gap by piquing students’ interest in math, science, and technology, and providing them with access to and mentoring from STEM experts and industry leaders. In turn, this sees an increase in student proficiency rates on state math assessments – a crucial stepping-stone, since math skills are fundamental to student success in STEM fields.

“As a technology leader, our desire to support the next generation of engineers is evident in our partnership with Citizen Schools in North America,” stated Jeffrey He, president of Hikvision USA and Hikvision Canada. “Hikvision’s success has been largely built upon the strength of our R&D team, and we wish to provide today’s students with the tools to advance the technology of tomorrow. ”

Hikvision’s work with Citizen Schools began in February 2015, when a team of Hikvision employees volunteered their time in a ten-week, after-school apprenticeship in Chicago. The students learned about engineering design as they built vehicles powered by renewable energy sources. A monetary donation from Hikvision went toward supplies for the classroom, helping the students flourish and

leading Hikvision to consider a more significant contribution. This year, as Hikvision employees again volunteer their time to teach students about STEM in Chicago, Hikvision has expanded their support to encompass not one classroom, but thirty. Their financial assistance will cover classroom supplies for STEM curricula in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Texas.

“We greatly value the support of our corporate partners, which allows Citizen Schools to improve educational opportunities and close the gap for students in low-income communities across the country,” remarked Emily McCann, CEO. “The donation from Hikvision will help our students engage in STEM activities and ignite moments of discovery.”​