St. Joe awards $126K grant to FSU Panama City ASCENT program

The St. Joe Community Foundation presented a grant of $126,012 to Florida State University Panama City’s ASCENT program on Sept. 9 that will help to support new technology clubs for Panhandle K-12 schools, esports competitions, and Technology Expos.

The money will generate matching funds from the Triumph Gulf Coast grant under which ASCENT operates. ASCENT (Advancing Science and Career Education in New Technologies) was formed to build a strong regional workforce in cybersecurity, computer science and engineering by supporting K-12 students and professionals in Northwest Florida with training and industry certifications.

The St. Joe grant will continue funding to support 21 Integrated Technology Clubs (ITCs); equipment for four additional ITCs; equipment for five outreach clubs; 25 ITC mentorships; 11 community camps and summer iCamp; two Technology Expos and one esports competition.

An ASCENT ITC club at Holy Nativity Episcopal School in Panama City competed at the international level in May. Gulf County teachers earned 127 technical certifications through an ASCENT training program in 2025. And hundreds of school children have participated in ASCENT Tech Expos in recent years, experiencing technology and engineering demonstrations, learning about robotics and artificial intelligence, building and launching rockets and many other activities.

“We are working really hard not only to support K-12, the workforce and industry, but university students as well,” said Suzanne Remedies, director of ASCENT. “We’re connecting our certification bootcamps with academics to further the skills and employability of our students.”