St. Anthony High School (SAHS) recently began its mission to implement a space for its STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) Curriculum Initiative after receiving a $45,000 donation from the Dan Murphy Foundation.

In addition to costs from expensive engineering software and computer hardware, the room where the lab would be built had been unused for quite some time in the nearly 100-year-old Catholic school. It required renovations for it to be functional, safe and compliant with Long Beach Fire Codes. The Ahmanson Foundation then donated an additional $75,000 to cover the rest of the project costs.

“With $120,000 in funding from very generous foundations, [we were able] to create a beautifully designed, completely renovated, functional space with technology at the core of the initiative,” SAHS Development Director Gina Mascaro said in a statement. “We purchased new PC’s, desks and chairs to enhance project-based learning and were able to expand the coursework to include system-intense engineering programs.”

SAHS held a celebration and luncheon for its new STEAM Learning Lab in October where it was dedicated and blessed by the Campus Chaplain Fr. Raymond. This included their STEAM Partners Consortium, where students were able to meet with representatives from the city of Long Beach, The Port of Long Beach, The Press-Telegram and Disney to network and gain internship opportunities and information on STEAM careers.