South Whidbey Schools Foundation awards $23,550 to area schools
Published 3:57 pm Friday, November 7, 2014
South Whidbey Schools Foundation announced on Oct. 30 that it will award $23,550 for innovative teaching grants to be used in the current school year.
“Of 26 grant applications submitted by South Whidbey School District educators, the Foundation was able to fully fund 15 projects, partially fund five projects and found alternative funding for four more projects,” said Foundation President Chris Gibson, in a recent press release.
The grants will be used for history, art, science, technology, engineering, math, music, language arts and special education.
Funded projects for the 2014-15 school year include salmon rearing and other projects at the elementary school, robotics and oceanography programs at the middle school, music, art and STEM programs at South Whidbey Academy and a professional development program at the high school, according to the release.
Some of the present year’s projects — such as hiring professional musicians to work with the middle school orchestra and jazz band, field trips to South Whidbey State Park and funding for the school district’s Garden Program — have also received Foundation funding in the past, as stated in the release. The district’s Chartwell-certified gardening program, Underwater Robotics Clubs and multidisciplinary Sheep-to-Shawl programs also received continued funding.
According to the press release, the majority of the funds were raised through a spring gala dinner and auction, the recent Dine Out Wednesdays for South Whidbey Schools program — which involved eight local restaurants that pledged a percentage of profits to the foundation — a pre-paid gift card program and the foundation’s end-of-year community donation appeal.
“But for the generosity of the South Whidbey community and Foundation supporters, none of these projects would have been possible,” said Gibson in the press release. “It has been another amazing year of fundraising.”
Information about the Foundation, including a full list of projects that received funding this fall and instructions on how to make tax-deductible contributions, can be found at swsfoundation.org.
