RAFT Hall of Fame | Class of 2024
Congratulations to our 2024 STEAM Educators of the Year, RAFT Hero, RAFT Volunteers of the Year, and RAFT Partner of the Year! Thank you for all you do for our educators, students, our community, and RAFT!
STEAM Educators of the Year
Rebecca Balster
Ocala STEAM Academy, ARUSD
STEAM Teacher of the Year presented by Cisco
Rebecca Balster is an eighth grade teacher at Ocala STEAM Academy and hosts the MESA program for the school. Her commitment to student’s understanding of STEAM has made an incredible impact on the students at Ocala.
Parent Sudha Kamath shared, “MESA after school program is an opportunity to learn STEAM topics with hands-on projects and mentoring and guidance from university students. Trips to SJSU campus to present their final works and then winners moving on to Regionals at UC Davis are some examples of how Ms. Balster helped students learn to navigate in the college spaces. Her students have won awards in college poster competition, moon base design, and Math Escape Room in 2023.”
Kristin Dil
Patterson Elementary, FUSD
STEAM Educator of the Year presented by KPMG
Principal Kristin Dil has over 20 years of teaching experience and is now the Principal of Patterson Elementary. Her nominator, Ashley Smith, shared her intense commitment to students’ creativity and hands-on learning:
“Principal Dil has been instrumental in the creation and use of Patterson’s Makerspace and has ensured all students have the opportunity to express their creativity and that each teacher feels supported in their teaching, often providing materials and RAFT kits to teachers to assist their teaching”.
Vincent Tran
Rancho Milpitas Middle School, MUSD
STEAM Teacher of the Year presented by Credo
Vincent Tran is the Tech Teacher at Rancho Milpitas Middle School and has over 10 years of teaching experience and has a strong commitment to student’s hands-on learning in technology. He took on the challenge of not only advising, but also hosting the first BotBall competition at his school, which required hours outside of the classroom to support students in this challenge.
Colleague Yen Mai shared, “He was not only helpful to students, but also to his teacher colleagues. His lessons and organization proved extremely helpful during the pandemic. This past year, Vincent switched from being one of our Math teachers to our elective Tech teacher, where he continued his passion for technology and instilled that passion within the students.”
RAFT Hero of the Year
Douglas Spreng
RAFT Hero Award presented by Google
With a degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT and a career of over 40 years in the high tech industry, Douglas Spreng understands the importance of STEAM education and hands-on learning. He has held executive positions at several technology companies, including Hewlett Packard, 3Com Corporation, concluding as Chairman & CEO of Ubicom Inc., while also serving on nine different Boards of Directors at tech companies. He has been a longtime supporter and champion of education nationally and in Silicon Valley. Five years ago, he became involved with RAFT after being introduced by previous Board Chair and RAFT Hero Webb McKinney.
Since learning about RAFT, Douglas has stepped forward to serve on RAFT’s Advisory Board as well as the Development Committee. Through his service on these committees, Douglas has provided valuable feedback on RAFT’s business model and strategies, helped RAFT improve their fundraising approach, and has connected numerous supporters with RAFT. His engineering background gives him exceptional attention to detail and he is always looking for ways to improve RAFT’s business while also being enthusiastic about the future of RAFT and the impact we will make together.
In terms of the impact of RAFT, Douglas shared: “I am an enthusiastic believer in the kinds of hands-on learning that RAFT provides to young students via their project kits and their low-cost ways of reaching their students, including the Maker Mobile. RAFT is a vital asset to our community.”
RAFT Volunteers of the Year
Jeanne Ohara
RAFT Volunteer of the Year presented by Morgan Stanley
Jeanne has been a RAFT volunteer since 2007 and has served over 2,200 hours. She started volunteering at RAFT shortly after retiring from being a teacher. She discovered RAFT while teaching and now enjoys coming to RAFT to volunteer with her friends.
Julia Kozen
RAFT Volunteer of the Year presented by AON
Julia is also a retired teacher and used many of RAFT’s resources in her classroom. She began volunteering at RAFT in 2006 and since then has served over 2,300 hours. She started as a store floor volunteer and now helps with preparing STEAM Project Kits.
RAFT Partner of the Year
The KLA Foundation has been a key partner of RAFT as they moved from the challenges of distance learning to grow their programs over these past years.
In 2022, the KLA Foundation provided a grant to purchase an additional Maker Mobile. Thanks to the purchase of this vehicle, RAFT can meet the demands of our district partners in providing hands-on learning experiences to our students in Title 1 and rural school districts. Over the past year alone, RAFT’s Maker Mobile program served over 10,000 students.
This past year, the KLA Foundation leveled up their giving to provide RAFT memberships and a shopping spree to every TK-8 educator at both Santa Clara Unified and Milpitas Unified School Districts.
In addition to these phenomenal projects, the KLA Foundation has also donated materials and organized multiple volunteer events with KLA employees to produce RAFT’s STEAM Project Kits for the classroom and their STEAM Dream Camp.
The KLA Foundation is committed to facilitating access to quality education as well as enriching their local communities, and RAFT is honored to partner with them in this work.
Again, thank you to all our honorees and partners for your unwavering support of RAFT over the years. Together, we are creating a lasting impact in STEAM education and empowering future generations!