49ers Kick Off STEAM Program For Bay Area Students; Announce Educator Grant

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday hosted more than 375 students from Bay Area schools in Campbell, San Jose, Fremont and Antioch to kick off the fourth year of the 49ers STEAM Education Program. The free field trip program promotes youth education in science, technology, engineering, art and math — STEAM — through the lens of football, according to a 49ers news release.

As part of the event at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, 49ers' center Daniel Kilgore surprised a group of 30 fourth-graders from San Jose's Cherrywood Elementary School to talk about the importance of education, highlighting how he uses math on the football field.

To date, the 49ers STEAM Education Program has reached more than 150,000 K-8 Bay Area participants since 2014, and helped earned the franchise its title of 2017 ESPN Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, according to the news release.

"For the 2017-2018 academic year, the 49ers STEAM Education Program is pre-booked for the entire school year and will serve an additional 60,000 participants through nearly 650 school visits," said Emily Lucas, manager of corporate communications for the 49ers.

In conjunction with the event and the new academic year, Lucas said the 49ers also on Tuesday launched the Dr. Harry Edwards "Follow Your Bliss" educator grant, which will recognize a full-time K-8 educator with a $5,000 stipend for in-classroom materials and resources.

"This award will recognize educators who have exhibited that optimal mix of care, empathy, and respect for their students and their students' families and communities," said Edwards, a graduate of San Jose State University who served as a professor at UC Berkeley for three decades. "The fundamental goal of the award is to further support deserving teachers in their efforts to inspire and help students follow their bliss."

The nationally renowned sociologist, civil rights activist, educator, author and 49ers team consultant, "has played an integral role in academia and the 49ers, so honoring [Edwards'] contributions to both areas was a natural path," said 49ers President Al Guido.

More information about the inaugural grant is posted at 49ers.com/bliss. Applications are open through October, with the inaugural recipient notified in December.

Photos courtesy 49ers