BayPort Credit Union: VBCPS Advanced Technology Center’s New Renewable Energy Technology Program Now Open

PHOTO: From left to right: Michael Callan, District 6 Virginia Beach School Board; Dr. Donald Robertson, Superintendent, VBCPS; Melissa Hazelwood, Director of Social Impact, Ferguson Cares; Jim Mears, President/CEO, BayPort Credit Union; Gary Artybridge, Jr., Manager, Corporate Citizenship & Education Outreach, Newport News Shipbuilding; Trenace Riggs, Chair, Virginia Beach School Board; Kevin Hill, President, Virginia Beach Education Foundation

Newport News, Virginia, Dec. 07, 2023 -- BayPort Credit Union is proud to announce the official opening of the new Renewable Energy Technology Program for high school students at the Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) Advanced Technology Center. The new program is made possible by the $500,000 Accelerating Change Together Grant, which was awarded to the Virginia Beach Education Foundation in 2022.

BayPort, along with two other leading organizations based in Newport News, Virginia, came together to create and fund the $500,000 Accelerating Change Together Grant. The inaugural year grant focus was education and workforce development, answering the regional call to build a workforce pipeline for young people to enter the emerging career fields of renewable energy technologies.

The VBCPS Advanced Technology Center prepares high school students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The new program will serve about 40 students annually through the courses Renewable Energy Technologies I and II. The Accelerating Change Together Grant funding also provides a specially equipped classroom with hands-on simulators, curriculum resources, instructor training, materials for outreach to elementary and middle school students, and funding for a solar learning pavilion at the school.

“The opening of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools new Renewable Energy Program at the Advanced Technology Center is an exciting day for innovation and growth here in Hampton Roads. BayPort is honored to invest not only in this new program, but in the future of our region,” said BayPort President/CEO Jim Mears.

“I’m excited that through this community partnership, our students will learn about renewable energy technologies and gain hands-on experience in their design, function, installation and maintenance,” said Dr. Donald Robertson Jr., acting superintendent. “Our future-ready students will have the opportunity to earn industry credentials and be part of sustainability projects.”

For additional information on the Accelerating Change Together Grant, please visit actgrant.org.