'It's amazing': St. Joe Community Foundation donates $197,000 to FSU PC programs

PANAMA CITY — At an official check presentation on Thursday, the St. Joe Foundation donated $197,000 to support two of Florida State University Panama City's programs.

The ASCENT program (Advancing Science and Career Education in New Technologies) received $122,527. The Early Childhood Autism Program (ECAP) received $75,000.

According to a press release from FSU Panama City, ASCENT is a six-year, $23 million project partially funded by Triumph Gulf Coast Inc and designed to contribute to the development of a strong, regional workforce in cybersecurity and new technologies.

"We will be using the donations to pay for hardware and software certification testing for students," said Brianne Biddle, ASCENT Program K-12 liaison. "We love receiving support and we always need support. When our community partners step up and partner with us, it's amazing and it helps us move our program forward."

The St. Joe Foundation was developed in 1999 separate from the St. Joe Company. In 2022, the St. Joe Foundation awarded $135,000 to the ASCENT program at FSU PC.

"In that initial year, students participating in ITCs earned more than 280 industry certifications outside of career technical education pathways," the release says.

"It's incredibly rewarding," said April Wilkes, executive director of the St. Joe Community Foundation. "The funds that we provide are used to benefit so many people, and knowing that the autistic community will receive the help they need is rewarding."

According to FSU Panama City website, ASCENT projects focus on increasing the interest of K-12 students in engineering, computer science, information technology and cybersecurity fields; and expanding undergraduate degree programs at FSU Panama City to include information technology, with a specialization in cybersecurity.

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The ASCENT program allows teachers to work during the summer to develop technology skills to be a greater asset to the students.

"The success of our students have had in this program could not have been possible without the generous donations of St. Joe Foundation," teacher Rebecca Stuart said. "It's so empowering to our students that this donation will help them in their high school and college careers."