2010-2011 Education Foundation Year in Review
click on the link above to view a PowerPoint presentation highlighting all the activities
of the Foundation over the past fiscal year.
The Foundation currently administers twelve programs in Palm Beach County. Funding for these programs is obtained through individual donations, corporate support, grants and fundraising activities.
• ARTS in Education Initiated to provide funding for an Arts Integration model at Egret Lake Elementary, Palmetto Park Elementary and Berkshire Elementary, this program serves to incorporate the arts into the core curriculum thus improving the academic abilities of students. This program recently completed its third and final year of funding.
•Beginning Teacher & Mentor Teacher of the Year Award • Career Education Funds are used to support the School District’s efforts to prepare and train students to become self sufficient adults through meaningful employment. Programs have included a Summer Learning Lab at Glades Central High School and Palm Beach Gardens High School for incoming freshmen entering the Medical Sciences Academy. In 2009, the Foundation was approved for a three-year Pre-Career Academy Middle School Expansion Project through the Quantum Foundation totaling $170,000.00. Three high needs middle schools: Lake Shore Middle (Pre-Engineering Academy), Lake Worth Middle and Congress Middle (Pre-Medical Science Academies) were the recipients of these funds. In November, 2010 a grant for $30,000.00 was awarded by the Quantum Foundation to support the Pre-Medical Academy at Roosevelt Middle School.
• The Citi Building Bridges to College and Career Initiative Supports programs that build capacity of high school career centers to increase college enrollment rates, build awareness of career opportunities and develop an understanding about options for financing a college education. We are entering the third cycle of funding at three high-needs high schools: Glades Central High, Olympic Heights and Santaluces High.
• Distinguished Alumni Awards This Award honors distinguished alumni and/or former students who are noted in their field of endeavor or recognized for their expertise and good works by their peers and others. These alumni must have graduated from or been enrolled in a Palm Beach County public school, and must have distinguished themselves through achievement, service or contributions to society either locally or to the broader community. To best recognize individuals selected for service or for achievement, awards are presented in six categories: Education, Communications/Entertainment/Arts, Government/Public Service, Business/Legal, Athletics and STEM/Health. More Information • William T. Dwyer Awards for Excellence in Education • Leadership Institute • License for Learning Mini-Grants - 2012 APPLICATION Through funding from the Support Education tags, classroom grants are awarded for educational programs to support the development of programs that enhance educational opportunities for students. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to: Literacy, STEM, and Career Education. In 2011 a record 150 grant proposals were submitted by 82 schools. Grant proposals were reviewed by a panel of Education Foundation Board members and approved grants were awarded at a reception hosted by UnitedHealthcare at the B.B. King Blues Club on September 27, 2011.
Click here to find out how you can support: mini-grants, literacy initiatives and teacher training!
• Literacy Achievement Initiative The goal is to diagnose the need for additional reading and comprehension assistance and provide programs that have a successful track record of improving academic performance. Funding is provided for programs to assist with improving scores for low-level readers (grades 1-3). Current programs include the Lucy Calkins Project, Reading Power and Family Literacy. • Mission Graduation Receiving a high school diploma is beyond the reach of over 4,000 juniors and seniors who have not passed the FCAT. Initial efforts focused on specialized tutorial classes available throughout area high schools and taught by District teachers. Current efforts support a collaborative initiative providing AmeriCorps volunteers placed in local high schools to provide tutorial instruction. • Teacher’s Guild Annual Professional Development Day This program explores best practices in teaching and attracts over 200 teachers from Palm Beach County and presenters from throughout the state of Florida including members of the Florida Department of Education. This past year’s program, Teaching Beyond the Box: Research-based Approaches to Educating, Motivating, & Fascinating Students was a huge success. Click here to see pictures from the 2010 event. • Winner Scholarship Fund The Fund is designed to inspire students from the second through fifth grade to continue their education after high school graduation, and to show families that higher education is a real possibility in their children’s future. This program was established by Jan Winkler and Hermine Drezner at Jupiter Elementary and has been replicated at Egret Lake Elementary, Greenacres Elementary, South Grade Elementary and Howell L. Watkins Middle School. Additional sponsors include Driftwood Hospitality Management and WellsFargo Bank. To date five Winner Scholars have graduated and gone on to institutes of higher learning.
Mary Kay Murray, executive director Education Foundation of Palm Beach County, Inc.; Hermine Drezner, Winner Scholarship founder; Helene Cai, Winner Scholarship recipient, Jan Winkler, Winner Scholarship founder and Jolly Ann Estrada, Winner Scholarship recipient. Click here to read full story
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