Introduction to the Donation
SOUTH CHICAGO — One of the tenants of a planned South Side megadevelopment has donated $10,000 to support science education at a nearby high school.
Details of the Donation
PsiQuantum, an anchor tenant to the 415-acre redevelopment of the former U.S. Steel South Works site, donated the money to Bowen High School, 2710 E. 89th St. in South Chicago. The school is about a mile from the south end of the development, which will be home to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. PsiQuantum plans to use the park to continue its efforts to build the world’s first quantum computer for practical use.
Impact of the Donation
The $10,000 donation will purchase virtual reality equipment, robotics, rockets, drones and other technology to “enable hands-on learning” in Bowen’s engineering, math and science classes, PsiQuantum executive Mo Green said. “The goal here is to give kids access to what a future in an engineering, science or tech career would look like,” said Green, the company’s head of market development and community and government affairs. “I’m really curious to see how this technology will transform the lesson plans that teachers can give in the school.”
Reaction from the School
PsiQuantum’s donation is about four times the average annual budget for Bowen’s science department, allowing teachers to “go outside the parameters of the budgets they’re normally used to [and] plan something phenomenal for the kids,” principal Priscilla Horton said. The funds will also support the school’s pre-engineering program, which introduces students to industrial design, drafting and other aspects of the engineering industry, Horton said.
Existing Quantum-Focused Education
The donation can further develop the quantum-focused education Bowen students have been receiving since before the South Works project was announced, science department head Adam Davenport said. Davenport has for the last four years developed and taught lessons at Bowen that incorporate quantum science concepts, like superposition and quantum encryption, as a founding member of the University of Chicago’s TeachQuantum program.
Enhancing Lessons with Funding
These lessons can be taught on the cheap, Davenport said. As an example of superposition, he dropped an egg encased in a closed box of masks and explained how it can only exist in multiple states — broken and unbroken — before being observed. But with an influx of funding, Bowen teachers can go beyond these broad concepts and develop lessons that introduce the practical applications of quantum science, like communication between drones or developing a maker space, Davenport said. “It does not take money to teach these initial concepts, but it does take money and it takes resources to show students how these concepts are going to be used in industry,” he said.
Community Engagement and Development
Both Davenport and Horton spoke in favor of the South Works development as the Plan Commission approved the project in December. The school has also hosted several city-led public meetings on the redevelopment. “Having this [development] built here … gives us the opportunity to say not just — as I do all the time — how quantum is the bleeding edge, how it’s where computing is going,” Davenport told Block Club. “Now I can say, it’s where computing is going, and it’s right here in our backyard.”
An aerial view of the former U.S. Steel South Works site, which megadeveloper Related Midwest is developing into a quantum computing campus, hospital and single-family housing. The remainder of the property will be used to improve access to nearby Steelworkers Park and Park No. 566, as well as host other businesses which have yet to be announced. Credit: Related Midwest
Future Commitments and Community Benefits
PsiQuantum has not committed to future funding for local education, though the company has also made a $15,000 donation to Chicago State University and plans to continue supporting South Side students “depending on what our budgets look like,” Green said. The donations “seemed like a pretty
