The effort began on UC San Diego’s campus, where Jacobs School of Engineering faculty redesigned introductory physics instruction explicitly to teach students how to think through complex problems. The impact was immediate, and it sparked a bold idea: what if high‑school students could learn these same skills before they ever set foot on a college campus?

That idea became reality with the creation of a high‑school physics course. The course is A‑G approved, giving students a rigorous science option that also builds the kind of analytical habits that help them succeed in any subject. For many students, it’s their first glimpse of what technical problem-solving feels like—and the first time they see themselves thriving in STEM. As one student shared, “My approach to problem‑solving has changed after taking this course. [Before,] I would probably look for an easy way out, or I would just try to avoid the problem, but now I feel the courage to challenge myself with the problem and try to find solutions that are creative and new.”

Educators are seeing the same transformation unfold in their classrooms, where the shift in students’ sense of capability is as striking as their growing technical skills. A teacher put it this way: “Once students get a taste for problem solving and a few wins under their belt, I think it will help them gain confidence in many areas of their life.”

This year, UC San Diego is extending these opportunities even further by bringing engineering‑ derived problem‑solving strategies into A-G approved high‑school chemistry and biology courses. Teachers trained in the program’s methods are also weaving these approaches into English, Math, Theater Arts, Graphic Design, and Earth Science, proving that expert problem solving is not just a STEM skill—it’s a life skill.

At the college level, UC San Diego’s general‑education problem‑solving course for all majors, first offered in 2025, is expanding to reach more students. A high‑school version of this Gen Ed course is now in development, giving younger learners early access to the same transformative curriculum.

By the end of the 2024–25 school year, more than 5,300 students across 25 schools in 7 districts were engaging with UC San Diego’s problem‑solving curriculum, supported by 30 trained teachers. By the end of the 25-26 school year, that number is projected to grow to 9,200 students, 29 schools, and 47+ teachers.

For students, these programs open doors—to new interests, new skills, and new futures. For the region, they nurture a rising generation of adaptable thinkers who will contribute to San Diego’s long‑term vitality. By creating opportunities for high schools and colleges to teach problem solving at scale, UC San Diego and its education partners are helping build the foundation for the innovation workforce the region will rely on in the years ahead.  

Learn more:  PSLAE: Next generation solutions for next generation change-makers

For years, Helix offered a sports medicine pathway, but too few jobs existed for students after graduation. Students also shared that they were more interested in nursing, physical therapy, and other medical professions. In response, the Helix team shifted the program’s focus from sports medicine to Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) training. This pivot now gives students access to an entry-level credential that offers stable wages, upward mobility, and a wide range of clinical opportunities.

Pathway Instructor Kathryn Welch created a new course to help students meet certification requirements, but she quickly realized that classroom learning alone wasn’t enough. Students needed hands-on, real-world experience, too. That insight led her to seek out a partnership with a local medical provider. 

Sharp HealthCare stepped up, collaborating with Helix to create a robust internship program for practical experience. What began with 10 interns has grown to 44 this year and is expected to reach 86 next year. Students complete 80-hour internships across eight Sharp sites, gaining experience in family medicine, pediatrics, pulmonary care, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, and more. They take vitals, conduct intakes, administer vaccines, assist with EKGs, and learn to navigate emotionally complex situations. These experiences build maturity and professionalism.

Welch sees the transformation firsthand: “It’s inspiring to watch students learn to meet people where they are, adapt in real time, and grow more confident as they work in the various clinical environments.” Sharp staff also conduct mock interviews, helping students practice the communication skills and professionalism expected in healthcare settings.

Support from the Girard Foundation helped Helix strengthen the program’s rigor and widen access—funding classroom equipment that mirrors Sharp’s clinical settings, supporting additional instructional capacity, and helping cover student costs such as certification exam fees and transportation to internships. These investments have opened the door for more students to participate and thrive.

Helix’s CCMA exam pass rates have risen among internship participants, and the partnership has already led to eleven full-time student hires. Sharp’s medical assistants benefit as well, developing leadership skills as they mentor students. With its two-year program—basic coursework, advanced training, and internship eligibility—Helix is building a sustainable pipeline with future healthcare professionals. By reducing financial and logistical barriers and equipping students with practical skills, the program gives graduates the option to enter the workforce immediately or pursue higher education with greater confidence.

Founded in the Bay area, Silicon Schools Fund has operated for over 14 years, providing $8.5 million in annual grants along with non-financial support.¹ The organization’s strategy centers on helping launch new schools, encouraging new breakthrough models of teaching and learning, and partnering with education leaders as they develop new models. Working alongside grantees, Silicon Schools helps turn promising concepts into practice by learning from real-world implementation and quickly adapting plans to better serve what students and educators need most.

Girard Foundation and Silicon Schools Fund have a long history of collaboration. Their previous initiatives include backing Khan Academy’s Khanmigo in its early stages and bringing National Summer School Initiative (NSSI) programs to San Diego County students during the pandemic. Together, they offer complementary strengths: the Girard Foundation’s deep roots and long-standing commitment to education in the region and Silicon Schools Fund’s national experience supporting innovative schools, educators, and educational organizations. 

Beyond grant funding, Silicon Schools Fund brings a broad view of emerging practices from across California and the country. The organization draws on lessons from more than 100 schools and education organizations it has supported statewide. Guided by a board and leadership team with expertise in education, technology, philanthropy, school design, and entrepreneurship, Silicon Schools helps connect San Diego educators to promising ideas, peer networks, and lessons learned from other communities. This combination of local leadership and statewide perspective creates new opportunities to adapt successful approaches to meet the needs of San Diego students.

“Some of the most exciting ideas in education are coming directly from educators who understand their students and communities best. We’re honored to work alongside San Diego school leaders, learn from their experience, and support innovative approaches that can create even greater opportunities for students across the region” said Caitrin Wright, CEO, Silicon Schools Fund.

Looking ahead, the Girard Foundation and Silicon Schools Fund plan to continue collaborating on educator-led innovation throughout San Diego County, including charter schools, district-based initiatives, and emerging models of teaching and learning. Their shared goal is not to prescribe solutions, but to help local educators develop, refine, and scale approaches that meet the evolving needs of San Diego students.

Learn more: Silicon Schools Fund

At the Copley-Price Family YMCA Infant Care & Preschool—located in the Y’s most urban and socioeconomically diverse community—the redesign placed a strong emphasis on gardening while creating an environment welcoming to infants through preschoolers.

With guidance from a local nursery, the team transformed a long-empty planter into a thriving bed of herbs, fruit trees, and vegetables, giving the children opportunities to pick mint, smell basil, and observe plant growth across seasons. Complementing this nature-rich focus, the playground also incorporates natural-material musical instruments, including drums and a xylophone, inviting exploration of sound, force, and vibration beneath a new shade sail that helps cool the space.  

The themes of gardening and music also guided the redesign at the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA Preschool. Their updated playground features natural-material musical instruments—in this case, clustered around an existing outdoor stage, creating a natural performance area where children can experiment with rhythm and sound. Gardening received equal emphasis: new wheelbarrows and child-sized tools expand the preschool’s already robust planting program, while clear acrylic panels on the sides of planters let children observe roots as they grow. 

The Mottino Family YMCA in Oceanside centered its design on motion, extending the STEM focus in a different direction. Starting with a nearly blank slate, the community created a large, reconfigurable riding track with new tricycles, scooters, and push‑pull toys. Mottino also introduced intricate water tables, inviting hands-on exploration of flow and evaporation to support physics learning and offer a reprieve from the heat. 

Across all sites, signs near the STEM activities offer teachers reminders about how to engage students through age-appropriate scientific exploration. Similarly, classroom posters help teachers deepen children’s scientific thinking. Seeing these posters during classroom visits helps inspire parents to build on the concepts at home. 

“This is just the jumping‑off point,” said childcare director Jennifer Hardy. “When families help design the spaces from the beginning, it fosters excitement and strengthens the home‑to‑school connection—which is vital in preschool.” With renewed support from the Girard Foundation, the Y is now partnering with communities at additional childcare centers to co‑design the next round of STEM‑rich environments.

Learn more: Preschool at the YMCA
Watch the Mottino YMCA playground in use:

A cornerstone of this effort is JA’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), which opens doors for teens across San Diego. Each year, 100–150 students complete more than 200 hours of instruction and paid work experience, supported by 20+ employer partners across construction, life sciences, government, education, and financial services.

SYEP offers every participant mentorship and hands-on experience. As Siddhartha Vivek, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of San Diego County, explains, “We don’t just talk about what’s possible—we show students what various workplaces look like, and connect them directly to industries and professionals they wouldn’t otherwise reach.” Students also begin building their own networks, a benefit that is especially meaningful for those with limited access to professional connections.

As programming expands, JA is also strengthening the infrastructure behind these experiences. A new Director of Workforce and Education Initiatives and a team of Career Specialists now standardize program delivery, support school districts, and coordinate employer engagement. JA has adopted a train‑the‑trainer model with partners—including San Diego Unified School District, Project Next, and other community organizations—to broaden reach and ensure long‑term sustainability. JA is also deepening multi-year collaborations with anchor employer partners, such as Deloitte, Illumina, and the County of San Diego, while offering Program‑as‑a‑Service options for organizations integrating JA’s curriculum into their own programming.

Collaborative initiatives further extend this work. Through Partnership with Youth Empowerment, United 4 Youth, and a developing partnership with the College Success Initiative, JA tailors workforce experiences for justice‑involved youth, foster youth, and others facing systemic barriers.

The long‑term impact is clear: 56 percent of JA alumni enter careers connected to their volunteer mentor. Beyond career pathways, mentorship is associated with higher graduation and college‑enrollment rates, increased confidence, and stronger interpersonal skills. 

Philanthropic investment—like the support from the Girard Foundation—has accelerated JA’s ability to scale its workforce efforts. As Vivek notes, Girard’s support “was truly catalytic,” enabling JA to add capacity, improve program quality, and bring in additional partners such as school districts, the San Diego Foundation, and other philanthropic organizations. This broader coalition is helping JA build a more sustainable funding model while preparing young people for brighter futures and strengthening San Diego’s workforce and community.

Learn more: Junior Achievement San Diego SYEP

Over the past decade, Transcend has supported 600+ schools. Their ambition is by 2030, to make it possible for communities everywhere to use community-based design journeys to transform the way school is done. Support from the Girard Foundation is enabling Transcend to broaden that effort so more communities can access, afford, and sustain their own design journeys.

Girard’s investment also fuels the development of design kits—curated, evidence-based resources that translate years of expertise into accessible tools for different kinds of journeys. These kits are designed to help schools lead their own redesign efforts without relying heavily on outside support. Transcend is now in the first phase of building and testing these kits, learning directly from the communities they serve to ensure the materials respond to real needs rather than assumptions.

As Transcend’s Chief Learning & Communications Officer, Jenee Henry Wood, explains, “We’re not in the business of producing generic toolkits. We’re codifying an evidence-based, practical body of knowledge so communities everywhere can redesign school in ways that truly work for them.” 

One vivid example of Transcend’s approach is its work with the Brooklyn STEAM Center, an innovative program in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that serves 11th and 12th graders from six high schools. Dr. Kayon Price founded the school to help young people move quickly into meaningful, well-paid careers. Extensive conversations with industry leaders identified six pathways and the skills required for success in each field. Parallel interviews with students and classroom observations clarified what truly sparked students’ interest and kept them engaged. Those insights shaped pathways in design and engineering, filming and production, cooking and hospitality, fashion, construction, and cybersecurity, each offering hands-on learning and the chance to earn industry-recognized credentials.

Girard’s investment has enabled Transcend to develop numerous tools and resources inspired by Brooklyn STEAM’s journey and to support leaders like Dr. Price in sharing their experiences nationwide. These efforts give communities embarking on their own journeys a strong starting point—resources, examples, and inspiration—so they don’t have to begin from scratch.

Health Education and Learning (HEAL) High School in Houston was guided in part by the Brooklyn STEAM design kit – one of several in development – and other insights from that design journey. Opened in August 2024, HEAL blends a strong academic program with career-connected learning in high-demand health care fields, preparing students to step directly into well-paying jobs that meet local workforce needs.  

By grounding its work in research and real-world practice, Transcend is helping schools create learning environments that lead to stronger experiences and outcomes for young people. With the right tools in hand, local leaders can increasingly  drive this work themselves and build the experiences their students need to succeed.

Learn more: Transcend Education
Watch Transcend’s CEO, Aylon Samouha, at TEDNext