The 49ers Foundation is teaming with a pair of businesses to expand its educational programs for local youth. This year, students will learn financial literacy thanks to a new partnership between 49ers EDU and Stash. 49ers EDU will work with Stash to create financial literacy videos for students. The videos will meet current state education standards.
“[We’re] really emphasizing decision making in those videos, as it relates to money, and making it something relatable to students not only as an important concept for life and a life skill, but what relates to the football experience like coming to a game and planning and really what they’re doing in their life, and how those two are connected,” said Sofy Navarro, a Senior Manager with 49ers EDU.
49ers EDU also partnered with SAP to adapt its educational offerings for the high school level. Currently, the 49ers EDU program only works with students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The new Executive Huddle program is specifically designed for older students. The curriculum includes a visit to the Executive Huddle suite at Levi’s Stadium, where students will see how Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) impact stadium operations on game day.
“We are super excited to leverage our Executive Huddle technology and space in the stadium. It is an amazing program and suite that SAP and the 49ers really brought together. We’ve integrated around real-time feedback within the stadium for customer service and user experience,” said Navarro.
“It’s a very compelling topic for students because you are bringing in math; you are bringing in data science or computational thinking,” continued Navarro. “Then you’re also bringing in this idea of operations. So, stadium operations are a huge part of our football family because, without them, we cannot do anything. There [are] so many different layers to that.”
Before the COVID-19 shutdown, the 49ers EDU program included visits to Levi’s Stadium by most of the student participants. When Santa Clara County COVID restrictions loosen, the 49ers Foundation hopes to resume those in-person visits to the stadium.
Until then, 49ers EDU programs are conducted virtually with everyone from the 49ers EDU team to the 49ers coaching staff to the players getting involved in the curriculum.
The 49ers EDU program was designed to teach students that you don’t have to be good at football to be a part of the team. Through the program, students learn how STEM subjects impact all aspects of a football game and what happens within the stadium.
The 49ers EDU team works closely with an advisory board of educational partners to ensure the curriculum is aligned with state Common Core and Next Generation Science standards.