NEWS Walnut Valley Unified School District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 880 S. Lemon Avenue
January 20, 2011 Walnut, CA 91789
Contact:
Kelli Gile, Office of Community Resources
909) 595-1261 ext. 31204
Walnut Valley Unified School District Receives $1.8 Million Gift
100 CAD programs donated for solar programs
WALNUT, CA-- The Siemens Corporation and Wenyang Chen of Unigraphics Solutions have donated 100 Solid Edge CAD Academic Partner Bundles valued at $1,795,000 to the Walnut Valley Unified School District.
The Board of Trustees approved the nearly $1.8 million donation during the January 19 meeting.
Walnut Valley schools will receive licenses for 100 CAD (computer aided design) software programs that feature 3-D graphics.
Middle and high school students will now use of this specialized software to help design solar cars and solar boats. Teams have designed and competed for the past six years. One of the solar cars took second place awards in 2009 and 2010 national competitions.
During the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Nancy Hogg said the donation was the result of the efforts of Walnut Valley parent Wenyang Chen. In appreciation of the District’s support of the student competitors, he helped get the software from Siemens, she said.
“This software will give them real world experience,” Hogg said.
“This generous gift will help enrich the learning experience for our students now, and as they prepare for college and beyond. We are very appreciative to Siemens and to Walnut Valley parent Wenyang Chen,” said Superintendent Dr. Dean Conklin.
He hopes these kinds of gifts will aide the District in building relationships with colleges and universities.
“As we create partnerships with colleges and universities, this is an example that we can point to and say ‘this is what we’re doing’”, he said. “Well respected universities will respond by saying ‘we’d like to be a part of this with you!’”