Our role:

• Develop and administer surveys and other data collection tools
• Report on data findings for grant funders

Results:

Center for World Music is a small non-profit and needed help with creating surveys, collecting and analyzing data to show return on investment for various funders. We provided technical assistance and developed surveys and other tools to capture the impact of world music lessons on students and their families. Having quantitative data helped CWM demonstrate to their funders their commitment to measurable and meaningful outcomes, which was instrumental for securing future funding.

Downey Unified School District has 70% of its student population living in poverty and often these students have an opportunity gap. Also, teachers and administrators in Downey understand students lack opportunities but they themselves do not have the time, personal connections or resources to connect to organizations like The National Academy of Sciences, Google, Marvel, or world renowned scientists or experts in their fields.

Bayha Group introduced Downey Unified to The Science and Entertainment Exchange (or The Exchange), an entity within The National Academy of Sciences.

For the California Career Pathways Trust Grant, Downey needed employer and industry partners and The Exchange agreed to be a grant partner responsible for creating innovative and fun opportunities for Downey students that connect science and entertainment.

As a result of this collaborative relationship among Downey Unified, Bayha Group, and The Exchange, Downey students have participated in a number of industry tours and special event. One particular event was called the Science of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Exchange arranged for Softbank Robotics to loan one NAO robot to Downey and sent a staff person to teach high school and middle school students how to work with the robot.

This is where having a partner like The Exchange created opportunities for Downey students. The Exchange helps entertainment writers and producers connect to scientists to make sure they get the science “right.” And they create events to have entertainment and scientists learn from each other. One such event was in October 2016 where Marvel, Google and The Exchange partnered to create The Science of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. World renowned scientists would speak about the science behind movies like Ant Man, Doctor Strange, and others Marvel films and people from the entertainment industry also attended. Before that event, Downey students would have an opportunity to visit the special exhibits of Marvel costumes and then they would present to a panel of scientists about what they learned when programming the NAO robot and get NAO to demonstrate what they programmed.

When meeting with the representative from SoftBank Robotics, the students wanted to program the robot to perform iconic poses for five Marvel characters and include music for each pose. The Softbank representative was sceptical the students could achieve this lofty goal. The engineering teacher and his students were not swayed and set out to prove that person wrong. The students with support from their teacher Glenn Yamasaki worked for 12 days straight including a holiday, at night and over the weekend to program NAO to perform poses for Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Captain America. They even used 3-D printers to print Thor’s hammer and Captain America’s shield. The students exceeded everyone’s expectations. Their programming worked perfectly on NAO and the robot did all 5 poses accompanied with music. The panellists were all impressed and asked the students very difficult questions and they answered eloquently. It was amazing opportunity for adults to see what students are capable of achieving and for students to realize for themselves what they could accomplish, even when others didn’t believe they could.

Grant writing phase:

Bayha Group served as thought partners to the district in developing ideas, bringing in potential grant partners, writing the grant proposal, developing and finalizing the grant budget, completing all required forms, and assisting with final submission to the funder.

Implementation phase:

Once the grant was awarded, Bayha Group acted as a full-service guide for DUSD. Bayha Group has been involved with all aspects of the grant, including supporting Downey with communications with the funder; preparing for District School Board approval; coordinating with grant partners and assisting with their contracts; meeting with district leaders and staff to develop grant roll-out and ongoing implementation strategies; attending regular implementation meetings; developing and implementing data strategies for feedback and continuous improvement; and addressing and completing all compliance data and reporting requirements.

Data and Reporting phase:

Bayha Group is working closely with district data and information systems staff to collect student outcome data through surveys, focus groups, and district data systems to ensure all required data and narrative reports are completed to meet funders’ expectations and requirements. Bayha Group also works with accounting and contracts staff at DUSD to ensure all budget reports to the funders are accurate and submitted on time.

Results

Through Bayha Group’s grant writing efforts, DUSD was awarded two major grants:

• $5.8 million California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT) grant from the California Department of Education
• $987,000 California Apprenticeship Initiative New Innovative Program grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office

DUSD was also able to launch innovative and fun student activities as a result of the grant, including:

• Tours of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Niantic, University of Southern California (USC)
• One- and two-week UCLA Nanoscience Summer Institutes
• FIRST and VEX Robotics competitions
• Fast & Furious Science event
• Dare 2B Digital event with Innovation Challenge
• Science of the Marvel Cinematic Universe event
• Opportunities to program the NAO robot and present to a panel of expert scientists.

Bayha Group helped DUSD write its P21 and District of Distinction applications. DUSD was selected and recognized as an Exemplary District in 2016/17 and featured in the District Administration magazine in July 2017.