Education Foundation Evaluates Impact

Student artwork expresses thanks to the LTEF for providing school grants.

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. Lawrence students recently delivered a pile of thank you notes to LTEF expressing their feelings about programs that the foundation brought to their classrooms. Ashley Pacailler enjoyed the math skill-builders that LTEF provided for elementary schools. "Thank you very much for my Math Closet games. My friend Klaudia and I played Money Bags. "This game is so awesome," said Klaudia with joy." Describing another program, Peter Rynkowski wrote, "Thank you for bringing the Symphony here because I really liked the music!."

All seven of the district schools benefited from LTEF grants this year. The foundation gave $30,000 in support of the fine and performing arts and another $22,000 for character education programs. Literacy projects totaling $25,000 included guided reading materials and several author residencies. Grants were also made in the areas of math, science, technology, social studies and fitness.

One of the grants with the most impact brought Rachel's Challenge to the high school. The assembly program in memory of Rachel Scott (the first student to die at Columbine) encouraged students to be kind to one another. LHS students followed up with a challenge of their own. The "Rainbow Challenge" persuaded students to sit at different lunch tables to break the stereotypes that separate them. "Not only did this movement help students to make new friends," notes participant Jené Rice, "but it also taught me to be confident and be one of the first to be bold to make a difference."

Lawrence Township Education Foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to enhancing educational opportunities for Lawrence Township students; it has funded over 320 programs in the Lawrence schools since 1992.