Featured Image Source: BISD Logo/Starships photo by @JaneidyEve for Tesmanian.com.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk is supporting education in South Texas, where the aerospace company is developing the Starship spacecraft at Boca Chica Beach in Cameron County. The region is along the border with Mexico and approximately 30 minutes away from the city of Brownsville. Musk calls the sandy beach the "Gateway to Mars" where he plans to build a Starship spaceport that will enable humanity to embark on voyages to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
In March 2021 Musk announced he would donate $20 million dollars to Cameron County schools and $10 million to Brownsville for revitalizing the city’s downtown area. Last year, the Musk Foundation started to donate a portion of that sum to multiple school districts in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). In April 2021 he donated over $2 Million dollars to the Brownsville Independent School District (BISD) and this week Musk donated an additional $2,533,346 USD to continue supporting local students throughout 2022.
“This will provide our students the necessary tools to fill in the learning gaps that were felt during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Superintendent René Gutiérrez said in a press release. According to a local RGV report, the funding will be used to buy students computers and other technologies to expand their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. The Musk Foundation’s purpose is to primarily fund activities related to science and engineering education, space exploration and renewable energy advocacy and research. The foundation also provides funding for pediatric research and the ‘development of safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity.’
BISD manages 54 public schools in Cameron County that provide education to over 43,000 students from pre-kindergarten to high schools that offer early college programs. BISD also provides education and care for students with special needs. The amount donated was determined based on school enrollment and is a portion of the $20 Million Musk pledged for education within the Cameron County region. SpaceX has also been inviting students to see firsthand how engineers work at the Starbase rocket factory and Starship launch site at Boca Chica Beach. Multiple school districts from around the Rio Grande Valley had the privilege to tour the Starbase facility.
The City of Brownsville District 2 Commissioner Jessica Tetreau was excited to announce the recent BISD donation and thanked SpaceX’s founder via Twitter –“Woke up to the news that Elon Musk donated more than 2.5 million dollars to Brownsville ISD students yesterday. His kindness, generosity and love for our community is truly the best thing that has ever happened to us,” she wrote on January 26.
SpaceX founder @elonmusk donates an additional $2M to BISD schools
— Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo ♡ (@JaneidyEve) January 26, 2022
Thanks for supporting my community Elon!
Hope students feel inspired🚀maybe an entire generation of astronaut engineers will be from the Rio Grande Valley
by @JaneidyEve via @Tesmanian_comhttps://t.co/vhDx55xieG
Featured Image Source: BISD Logo/Starships photo by @JaneidyEve for Tesmanian.com.
About the Author
Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
