With a large number of grants going to the Port Washington school district this year, the Ed. Foundation on Thursday recognized the people who fund them.
The Ed. Foundation, which raises private money for grants for Port Washington schools, provided $126,000 in 46 grants for the 2016-17 school year.
“This year, Port Washington schools will have an experience that would not otherwise be possible without people contributing to these grants,” said Paula Whitman, the foundation’s president. “We’re extremely grateful for the partnership we have with the Port Washington school district.”
At the event in the Paul D. Schreiber High School cafeteria, the Ed. Foundation showed a video that showcased the programs it funds for the school district, including a robotics program, interactive music and arts programs, an inventors program and more.
Whitman said the video was funded through a donor and will be used throughout the school year to promote and market the Ed. Foundation to potential patrons.
“The Ed. Foundation once again helps enrich the education of Port Washington students,” said Kathleen Mooney, superintendent of schools. “These grants ignite lights of learning in unique and creative ways.”
The Ed. Foundation specifically honored the Peter & Jeri Dejana Foundation, the Sidney & Mildred Edelstein Foundation and the Rimsky family for their contributions.
The Sidney & Mildred Edelstein Foundation funded a robotics program at the Carrie Palmer Weber Middle School that allows students from grades four through eight to learn about robotics and computer science, and compete in various robotics competitions.
Students have already programmed robots to talk, Whitman said.
The Dejana foundation exclusively funded a grant for a program called Bringing Voices Together: A Multi-Level Choral Commission that will operate in all schools.
Schreiber High School received grants that include funding for a robotics program, a guided application of statistics and biostatistics and expanding expression for high school students receiving speech-language services.
Weber’s grants included a STEM inventors lab grant and a no-student-left-indoors grant to help engage students in more hands-on physical activity.
The John J. Daly Elementary School received a grant for workshops in English and Spanish for pre-K students and a grant for a New York State of Mind program, which gives fourth graders the chance to create a topographical map of New York.
One of the grants the Guggenheim Elementary School received is for students to sleep over at the American Museum of Natural History and watch the “A Night at the Museum” trilogy in Imax.
The Manorhaven Elementary School received a grant for a program that matches adult volunteers with fourth- and fifth-graders for a school-based mentoring program.
The John Phillip Sousa Elementary School received a grant that will fund an introductory computer science workshop that will run after school for students in first and second grade.
Specific programs throughout the Port Washington School District were funded through targeted donations, which include a $22,000 donation for a high school radio station and a $62,000 grant for a high school television studio.
The Ed. Foundation raises money for grants through independent patron donations, events and fundraisers.
On Nov. 4, the Ed. Foundation will kick off fundraising with a progressive dinner where patrons will eat meals at different houses.
