Jason Learning expanding its reach to more R.I. students

THANKS TO AN INFUSION OF $500,000 in state money, expected to be announced Monday, Jason Learning is planning on expanding its reach to seven additional Rhode Island schools in the current academic year. / COURTESY JASON LEARNING
THANKS TO AN INFUSION OF $500,000 in state money, expected to be announced Monday, Jason Learning is planning on expanding its reach to seven additional Rhode Island schools in the current academic year. / COURTESY JASON LEARNING

NARRAGANSETT – Jason Learning, a nonprofit established by oceanographer Robert Ballard that teaches students about science, technology, engineering and math, is expected to receive $500,000 in Rhode Island state funding on Monday.

The funding will enable the nonprofit to expand educational programming to seven additional school districts, said Andrew Wood, vice president of marketing and public affairs for Sea Research Foundation Inc., which manages Jason Learning in partnership with the National Geographic Society.

According to its website, the mission of Jason Learning, formerly the Jason Project, is to “inspire and educate kids everywhere through real science and exploration.”

For the 2012-13 academic year, relying on $500,000 in state funding, the nonprofit had provided educational programming in the school districts of Central Falls, Pawtucket, Smithfield, Warwick, West Warwick, Westerly and Woonsocket, as well as after-school sessions in Newport and Providence through Boys and Girls Clubs and other after-school programs, Wood said.

- Advertisement -

In addition to those locales, the school districts expected to benefit from the new funding are Bristol/Warren, Burillville, Coventry, Cranston, East Providence, Jamestown and North Providence.

Ballard will illustrate a 10 a.m. talk Monday at Pilgrim High School in Warwick with images of how he discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic on the North Atlantic seafloor, as well as other research his vessel, E/V Nautilus, is engaged in exploring.

At 11 a.m., public officials are slated to announce the new funding. State Reps. Eileen S. Naughton, D-Warwick, and Patricia A. Serpa, D-West Warwick, as well as Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, and Richard D’Agostino, superintendent of schools in Warwick, are expected to attend.

No posts to display