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May 17, 2023 / Multiple Schools

Foundation awards 2023-24 grants

On the morning of May 11, 2023, the District 45 Foundation for Excellence in Education paid a surprise visit to D45 staff awarded educational grants for the 2023-24 school year.

With giant replica checks in hand, Foundation Board President Rae Srch, directors Linda Nystrom and Peg Egan, along with ex officio directors Al Legutki and Superintendent Dr. Tony Palmisano, arrived at schools to surprise each of the grant recipients with news of their award. In all, the Foundation awarded five educational grants totaling $5,760.53.

One of the grants awarded went to Debbie Johnson, Lauren Wegner, and Esthela Arenas from Schafer Elementary. The grant will allow them to purchase a hydroponic gardening system, or “Tower Garden,” for Schafer School.

“The Tower Garden is a hydroponic gardening system that students can use year-round as an engaging way to meet science, math and writing standards,” said Wegner. “This will also allow students to collaborate and develop long-term goals and plans to meet those goals.”

“We have big plans,” said Wegner. “We’re going to let the second graders vote at the beginning of the year on what they want to grow. Then, they will choose what kind of party they can have at the end, based on what they will grow.”

The gardening system allows students to learn about the growing process, from choosing seeds and soils to making meals from what they have grown. Students will also develop a website to track the garden and their successes and possible failures in the growing process.

In February, the Foundation invited District 45 staff to apply for grants for new and innovative projects that were not within District 45’s normal operating budget. Then, in April, the Foundation’s Board of Directors carefully reviewed the grant applications they received and arrived at five winning proposals.

Earlier in the 2022-23 school year, the Foundation awarded four educational mini-grants of at most $1,000 in addition to the regular grant program offered each spring.

2023-24 educational grants were awarded to:

STEM Bins as Fuel for Creativity!: Gabriela Manzano
Stevenson Elementary
Amount: $1,281.06

High-Interest Books for Silent Reading: Amy Prester and Hayley Rost
Westmore Elementary
Amount: $597.51

Kindergarten STEM Basket Manipulatives: Jennifer Zappas
Ardmore Elementary
Amount: $597.96

Let’s Read Together: Desta Wenzloff, Carly Lee, Fred Leinweber and Joe Ritchie
North Elementary
Amount: $1,900.00

Hydroponics Indoor Garden: Debbie Johnson, Lauren Wegner and Esthela Arenas
Schafer Elementary
Amount: $1,384.00

Throughout the year, the District 45 Foundation for Excellence in Education raises funds for educational grants. Donations to the Foundation can be made online or by mail anytime.