Woodland Hills : School Gets Grant for High-Tech Program

Money that once might have been used for death and destruction has been diverted to create a high-technology training program at Francis Parkman Middle School.

The Woodland Hills school is using a $140,000 grant from the federal government’s peace dividend program to purchase equipment for the center, Principal Michael Bennett said. The program, housed in a former trade shop classroom, is designed to help students prepare for today’s high-tech job market.

“In middle schools you don’t have enough programs for hands-on training anymore,” he said. “This will help kids get prepared for the 21st Century.”

The peace dividend is money appropriated by Congress that became available at the end of the Cold War. Some funds have been diverted into math, science and technology programs in schools, and to help military personnel make the transition to a peacetime economy.

Under the program, Bennett said, a National Guardsman pursuing a teaching career will be assigned to Parkman to help train math and science teachers to use the high-tech equipment.

The grant money can be used to purchase equipment to teach students about subjects such as solar, mechanical or electrical energy, computer-assisted design, computer graphics, manufacturing technology, electronics, rocket science, satellite-dish technology, robotics and anatomy, Bennett said.

Three other area schools receiving the grants this year are Charles Maclay Middle School in Pacoima, James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood and Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar, said Peggy Barber, legislation analyst for the Los Angeles Unified School District. All the grants were for the same amount, she said.

She said other district schools receiving the grants this year are Mary McCleod Bethune Middle School in South-Central Los Angeles and Mt. Vernon Middle School in West Los Angeles.