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Jen Wengler has taken on the presidency of the Lawrence Township Education Foundation as the organization enters its sixteenth year. She takes over from Theresa Wrobel, who shepherded LTEF through its 15th anniversary and its first gala.
Jen begins her term by leading the board through a strategic planning process to re-examine the education foundation’s position in an ever-changing public education environment. Jen has three children in the Lawrence public schools and is a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University in the field of educational assessment.
Pepper Evans is also assuming new leadership with LTEF. In her role as Vice President, Pepper will assume responsibility for board management and recruiting. Pepper has two children in Lawrence schools.
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The Foundation celebrated education at its first ever black-tie Gala as part of its 15th
anniversary. The event held at ETS broke all previous LTEF records, raising over $100,000 for Lawrence Township Public School programs.
Programs funded
Event photos
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Over 200 Lawrence Township Public School teachers have
received apples from their students. And their teachers were thrilled! That's
because these were very special apples - not your ordinary variety of fruit!
Each of these apples represented a donation made to the local education
foundation in honor of individual teachers. |
LTEF Kicked off its 15th anniversary celebration at
Lawrence Community Day at Village Park on Sunday, October 7. The LTEF booth
offered kids popcorn and a chance to have their photos taken with a life-size
cut-out actors from Disney's popluar movie, High School Musical. |
The first recipient of the Lawrence Township Education
Foundation (LTEF) Service above Self Grant has completed its project and the
results are on display at the Mercer County Library in Lawrence . This award,
given in memory of local community volunteer William C. Nester, rewards
programs in the Lawrence Township Public Schools that encourage young people to
recognize the value of service to their community. This past school year, the
award was given to the H.O.O.T program at Lawrence Intermediate School. The
fourth grade students, in conjunction with the guidance department and parent
volunteers, spearheaded the service-learning project, Helping Out Others
Together (HOOT), with involvement from the whole school. |
As the school year came to an end, trustees of the
Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF) met to evaluate the impact their
funding had on Lawrence's public schools. This year the foundation contributed
$146, 928 to the schools to make 31 programs possible. But the numbers do not
tell the whole story. |
Thanks to a grant written by music teachers Sharin Rello
and Ron Taglairino, Lawrence Intermediate School students will be learning how
to play folk guitar in their music classes. LTEF has purchased a set of 30
guitars and music books to make this project possible. Each sixth grader will
spend twelve weeks learning how to play melody, harmony and create an original
score using their guitars. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "Music is the
universal language of mankind." |
 Over 200 Central Jersey high
school students and their teachers, including 20 sponsored by LTEF, had the
unique opportunity to attend Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School for
Public and International Affairs on for a day-long forum on American democracy
and global affairs.
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If it is true that, "reading is to the mind what exercise
is to the body," then the minds of hundreds of Lawrence Township students are
getting plenty of additional mental exercise, thanks to several grants recently
awarded by the Lawrence Township Education Foundation. These grants, which
total nearly $18,000, will help encourage elementary students in Lawrence
Schools to read more and help them to build the skills to enjoy reading. |
Several recent grants from Lawrence Township Education
Foundation (LTEF) to the Lawrence schools will enhance the reading and writing
skills of young Lawrence students by exposing them to the work of experienced
authors such as Leo Lionni and Wendy Pfeffer, the latter of whom lives in
Pennington and will visit with students as part of the grant. |
Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF) is
sponsoring a series of presentations of a nationally-known character education
program in Lawrence Township on Wednesday, February 21, 2007. The program,
called Rachel's Challenge, calls students and community members to embrace
values of kindness and compassion. |
 Rider University's renowned Performing Arts
Department shared a behind-the-scenes look with 200 students from high schools
throughout central New Jersey for the first "Rider Presents" program. The
program was jointly sponsored by Rider University and the Central New Jersey
Education Foundation Partnership.
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 Kids love math in
Lawrence Township! And as Lawrence Intermediate School fourth grader Marifred
Evans tell us, it has a lot to do with the "Math Out of the Box" and "My Math
Closet" programs. Merrill Lynch recently contributed $5,000 to the Lawrence
Township Education Foundation (LTEF) to support this innovative approach to
math education.
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The Lawrence Township High School is home to the new
Center for Humanities and Affective Instruction (CHAI) - the first
Holocaust/genocide educational resource center ever established at a New Jersey
high school. The center is an initiative of school psychologist Nancy
Hendrickson, who created it with the help of a $3,500 grant from the LTEF. |
Lawrence Township Education Foundation celebrated the
partnership between the foundation and the faculty and staff of the local
public schools at ETS on May 9, 2006. The partnership has helped to bring over
270 programs into local classrooms since 1992. The Teacher Recognition Event is
an annual affair and all Lawrence teachers and staff are invited to
attend. |
The inflatable StarLab, built by MIT and run by
super-charged "John the Astronomer," earned favorable reviews from Lawrence
Intermediate School students at the first LIS Science Night on May 4th. |
LTEF awards over $100,000 in grants to bring innovative
programs and worthwhile projects into district classrooms. The funds support
programs sponsored by Lawrence teachers such as Jessica Heller, who proposed
"Linking Science & Literature" and was awarded $42,000 to purchase
science-themed books that complement the district's elementary school
inquiry-based science program. |
The entire student body of the Lawrenceville Elementary
School was transported back to the 19th century when LES received a visit from
a great American hero, Harriet Tubman. The visit was made possible through a
grant written by Eva Bostick Fuller and funded by the LTEF. |
Greg and Michele Kelly have five children and know the
importance of a good education. This year the Kellys have agreed to serve as
the Annual Giving Chairs for LTEF’s Friends of the Foundation drive. |
The Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Education Foundations (MACEF) has recognized
the LTEF web site for excellence amongst hundreds of its peers. MACEF
recognizes foundations, individuals and projects for outstanding levels of
achievement and describes LTEFnj.org as a model for other foundations to
follow. |
This spring, two long-time trustees are leaving the
Foundation Board of Trustees as five local residents join. After ten years of
service each, Jim Ham and Rick Babick are leaving the board. Carla Cheifetz,
Patricia "Pepper" Evans, Jennifer Gerlach, Bruce McGraw and Romy Toussaint are
joining. |
The Lawrence Township Education Foundation was pleased to
receive a $5,000 contribution from Merrill Lynch in support of one of its
programs. "My Math Closet" will create a lending library of mathematics games
and learning aids for use by Slackwood Elementary School students. |
LTEF is always on the lookout for good ideas. And the
teachers in Lawrence public schools just keep coming up with them. This Spring,
LTEF is funding twelve of those ideas for a total contribution of just over
$50,000. |
LTEF is partnering with local businesses to make Lawrence
Township schools the best that they can be. Amalfi's, an italian restaurant in
Lawrence, was one of the first businesses to step up and support the LTEF as it
launched its Community Business Campaign. |
The students of Lawrence Middle School commemorated
Veteran's Day on November 11 in a ceremony that culminated at the school's
flagpole garden which was funded by the LTEF. The students learned the
importance of honoring veterans, and planted miniature American flags in the
garden. |
This Fall, Lawrence teachers brought their creative ideas
to the Lawrence Township Education Foundation and LTEF responded with funding
for all seven district schools in most curriculum areas. The trustees of LTEF
approved funding for thirteen of the sixteen proposed projects and awarded a
total of $53,500. |
The Central New Jersey Education Foundation Partnership, a
consortium of fifteen area foundations, joined on May 7th with the Woodrow
Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University to
provide area high school students an opportunity to explore the most pressing
issues of the day. |
In collaboration with professional artists and musicians,
all 320 fifth graders created a series of Broadway-style songs that explored
the feelings and thoughts of characters drawn from the book. The songs were
ultimately presented in a final dramatic performance by professional singers
from New York City. |
Education Foundations, including LTEF, are featured in
this NY Times article for their efforts in easing the budget woes of local
townships. In fact, LTEF is working with other NJ Foundations as part of the
Central Jersey Education Foundation Partnership. |
LTEF has granted $24,000 in professional development funds
for Lawrence teachers seeking to enhance their skills this summer. More than
110 Lawrence teachers will be attending workshops as a result of the
grants. |
LTEF is pleased to announce that approximately $57,000 in
funding was awarded on March 5, 2004 for 13 grants covering Lawrence Township
elementary, intermediate, middle, and high schools. Congratulations to the
grantees! |
Rider University President Dr. Mordechai Rozanski recently
met with LTEF trustees to demonstrate the University's support of its mission.
President Rozanski provided a generous donation from the University to further
LTEF's mission of providing extraordinary learning opportunities for Lawrence
Township's public school children. |
Local attorney Dan Haggerty has agreed to serve as the
campaign chair for LTEF's Friends of the Foundation fundraising initiative for
2004. He urges all community members to join the LTEF to provide financial
support to help teachers and school administrators give the township's children
the best possible education. |
The Lawrenceville MOMS Club recently contributed the
proceeds of its annual Preschool Options Fair to the Lawrence Township
Education Foundation The MOMS are Moms Offering Support to Moms. Event
chairperson Deborah Dauer noted that the moms view the donation as another way
to "support our teachers, our schools, our children." |
Recently Slackwood students gathered for an assembly that
kicked off Golden Heart Week as part of a year-long grant to promote the six
pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness,
caring and citizenship. The pillars will be fostered through a variety of
activities taking place at all the schools. |
LTEF is pleased to announce that approximately $50,000 in
funding was awarded on October 31, 2003 for 11 grants covering Lawrence
Township elementary, intermediate, middle, and high schools. Congratulations to
the grantees! |
Lisa Willever, a former teacher, led writing workshops at
our Elementary and Intermediate Schools. She has written eleven children's
books and is a partner in the Franklin Mason Publishing Company, which was
named Best New Business in 2000. The visit was funded by the money raised in
LTEF's Million Penny Challenge. |
The Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF) received
its annual donation from The Lawrenceville School this month in the amount of
$65,000. The very generous donation is an indication of the private school's
commitment to public education in Lawrence Township. |
Teenagers climbing walls? Swinging from ropes? These were
just a couple of the activities that helped incoming Lawrence High School
freshmen get ready for their four years at the high school during a recent
weekend at Rider University. |
How often have you heard a child say (or have you wondered
yourself), "What's the point in the stuff you learn at school?" Lawrence Middle
School science teachers Dave O'Neal and Betsy Conboy, in cooperation with Rider
University, and with support of a grant from the Lawrence Township Education
Foundation (LTEF), have found a way to demonstrate to every student in the
seventh grade how their science lessons can be applied in the real
world. |
People who live in Lawrence Township take public education
seriously. In the past fiscal year, $107,000 in donations from individuals and
companies went directly to enrichment programs in the Lawrence Township public
schools. |
Those lazy, hazy days of summer were a beehive of activity
for Lawrence public school's teachers and administrators. And one of the
reasons was the generous support of the Lawrence Township Education Foundation
(LTEF). The community-based group funded staff participation in a wide variety
of professional development activities throughout the summer. |
The Lawrence Township Education Foundation recently
awarded $5,000 to Lawrence High School to support a program, the Teen Institute
of the Garden State (TIGS), that encourages students to make positive life
choices without resorting to the use of alcohol, tobacco or other
drugs. |
In March of 2002, the LTEF began to collect pennies to
commemorate the organization’s tenth anniversary and to celebrate one
million dollars in contributions to the township’s public schools. And by
the end of the year, WE MADE IT! |
By: Lea Kahn ,
Staff Writer, Lawrence Ledger
Business donation pushes fund past
mark. The Million Penny Challenge was stalled. For weeks, the tally of pennies
collected by the Lawrence Township Education Foundation stood at more than
900,000 copper coins — until a donation by the owner of Simply Radishing
put it over the top. |
A grant funded by the LTEF and ETS is providing high
school students with the opportunity to take courses in child development, and
put their knowledge to use as literacy tutors for pre-school children under the
direction of Donna Porwancher, a Lawrence Township school psychologist.
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In the second funding cycle of the school year, the
Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF) awarded $31,000 to the Lawrence
Township Public Schools to fund five new programs. The five newly-funded
programs affect students at all seven of the district schools and touch all
areas of the curriculum. This brings the number of foundation-sponsored
programs to one hundred and ninety five. |
Fifth-graders in Jane Fetter's class at the Lawrence
Intermediate School are telling tall tales in the frontier tradition about
America's westward expansion. In the process, they practice their writing and
drawing skills, do historical research, acquire technical expertise and have
more fun than you can imagine. |
Fifth grade students at Lawrence Intermediate School have
been learning how poetry, music and art can be used to understand their own
culture as well as to communicate with and appreciate the customs of people in
other countries, thanks to a grant written by 5th grade teacher Jane Fetter and
funded by the Lawrence Township Education Foundation. |
