Four local schools receive $10,000 STEM grants from Hyundai Motors
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Edison High School is proud of its hydrogen fuel cell RC car racing team, racing student-built cars at local, state and sometimes national competitions.
Still, budget cuts in recent years have made an impact.
“We had a lot of issues with enrollment and funding and stuff,” Edison senior Lily Wells explained. “We had to terminate our Academy of Sustainability and Engineering program. This used to be a part of it, but then we had to branch off when it got terminated.”
A $10,000 grant should help keep things rolling smoothly, so to speak.
Students, teachers and administrators from 15 different public schools in Orange County gathered at the Hyundai Motor America corporate headquarters in Fountain Valley. Each of the schools received a $10,000 grant for STEM education as the inaugural recipients of the Future Innovators Initiative, presented by Hyundai in partnership with the Orange County Schools Bright Futures Foundation and the county Department of Education.
Other local schools receiving grants as part of the $150,000 total pool included Ocean View High, Helen F. Stacey Intermediate School in Huntington Beach and Wilson Elementary School in Costa Mesa.
Matt Brutlag, a science teacher at Edison and coach of the fuel cell racing team, said the money will allow the students to build and race four cars this year, instead of just one or two. It should also allow for the purchase of a couple of new fuel cells.
The fuel cells for the cars become less efficient over time.
“We have a lot of old components,” Wells explained. “We don’t usually buy new ones, because we don’t have a lot of funding for it. So, a lot of our fuel cells aren’t very efficient anymore. Funding would help us get more hydrogen fuel cells and more batteries, because we do have issues with a lot of batteries.”
At Wilson Elementary, the grant money will be used to buy two more robots, science teacher and robotics coach Stephanie Hodgson said. This will enable fourth graders to join the older students at the school in robot making.
Hodgson said she also hopes to start a STEM lab on campus. Everyone on campus receives some level of STEM education, from the TK students to the older children, using the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) curriculum.
“I think it’s great, as we’re continuing forward into the 21st century,” Wilson Principal Brittney Figueroa said. “One of the things we have at our district is a portrait of a graduate, and that takes into consideration what we want for our kids as they graduate high school. But, we recognize that the foundation begins in TK. We really want to build the students up so they use all of their skills, like critical thinking, collaboration, independence, tech navigation and problem solving.”
Brandon Ramirez, Hyundai’s director of corporate social responsibility, said the company had been looking to invest in future leaders. It partnered with the Orange County Schools Bright Futures Foundation, which launched in December 2025 and is led by executive director David Blair.
More than 60 schools county-wide filled out simple applications, Blair said, which were evaluated by both people on the board of directors of his organization as well as Hyundai representatives.
“We know school budgets are tight,” Blair said. “As much as the school might want to do something, it’s almost like teachers know not to ask the question, because it’s not in the budget. It’s pretty exciting to hear teachers thank the foundation and thank Hyundai for the opportunity to answer that call.”
