Tomorrow's leaders in science and medicine graduated from one of the nation's most advanced summer internship programs at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

The 44 interns in the Helios Scholars Program at TGen wrapped up eight weeks of biomedical investigations with a daylong symposium filled with discussions and scientific poster presentations at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel.

With the ages of birth to five being the most critical stage in the growth and development of young children, Helios Education Foundation is investing close to $1 million in three early childhood education (ECE) initiatives that will expose children to positive learning environments and provide high quality training for ECE teachers in Arizona and Florida.

The Foundation is awarding Childsplay and Paradise Valley Community College (both in Arizona) and the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County, Florida with funding for ECE teacher professional development programs that, over time, will help teachers better understand how children learn to read and develop vocabulary.

A new partnership between the University of Arizona College of Education and Helios Education Foundation will change the way early childhood teachers are prepared by including family and community members as educators of future teachers.

"Community and family will be the heart of the new curriculum," says Iliana Reyes, associate professor and codirector of the project. In the first year, with funding of $347,000, professors, teachers, and community members will begin a complete redesign of the current early childhood courses and language and literacy projects at the college.

Teach For America announced that Vince Roig, chairman of the board of Helios Education Foundation, has been named to its National Board of Directors.

"Vince and Helios Education Foundation have been such strong public champions and supporters of our work to expand educational opportunity in Phoenix and Miami," said Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach For America. "We are thrilled that he is deepening his engagement with Teach For America, and know that he will provide invaluable guidance and support for our efforts to grow our impact nationally."

Helios Education Foundation committed $115,000 to Teach Tec, a unique collaborative program that trains seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade teachers on innovative ways to use technology to better teach and inspire students.

Educators in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are being invited to participate in "Teach-Tec," a certificate program that will show how technologies such as flip video cameras, Poll Everywhere, SurveyMonkey, Wordle and YouTube, can serve as high-impact tools to enhance the learning experience.

Helios Education Foundation, the Rays Baseball Foundation and the United Way of Tampa Bay are working to raise the score for education! Each time the Tampa Bay Rays score a run from May 24-July 11, Helios Education Foundation will donate $250 to the United Way of Tampa Bay's Education Initiative called Helping Children and Youth Achieve their Potential. This effort is focused on helping children and youth increase their school readiness, build academic success and develop strong life skills.

Find out more about our partnership and the work we're doing in Arizona and Florida to change lives through education. Read more here.