Surrounded by fanfare and excitement, the Waukesha Education Foundation (WEF) team surprised School District of Waukesha (SDW) educators with grant awards totaling $62,000, the highest grant total in the organization's history.
WEF is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit that directly benefits SDW students through a high school scholarship program and a grant program for educators. Each spring, teachers, staff and administrators that work in the SDW may submit grant proposals to request support for projects, programs and initiatives that normally wouldn’t be covered in classroom or school budgets. This year, WEF awarded $62,000 in grants, the largest amount in the organization’s history, which will enable 29 grants to be implemented at 14 different schools and in multiple district wide programs.
On Thursday, members from the WEF Board of Directors and other foundation supporters popped into schools and district buildings to share the exciting news with grant recipients and present them with novelty checks and prizes.
“Our grant delivery day is always such a special day,” said Janaka Subotnik, WEF Board President and Grants & Scholarships Committee Chair. “The committee was impressed with the innovative ideas that were submitted to extend the curriculum and enhance the overall learning experience for students, and it’s very rewarding to spend the day congratulating our winners.”
Grants awarded this year were for a variety of projects and focuses including literacy support, creative ideas for proactive sensory regulation, support for programs that encourage community, accessible learning tools, support for a commercial kitchen at a high school to impact workforce development programs and support the district’s career readiness initiatives, and even unique programs that take students outside of the classroom to learn more about bee keeping and fishing!
WEF is grateful to have the support of several community donors and corporate partners who help to fuel the grants. Special recognition is provided to Generac Power Systems who made a $6,000 gift through WEF’s Classroom Connect program. Launched in 2023, this unique initiative offers donors the opportunity to make a contribution and designate it to fund grants that align with a particular area of interest. This enables the donor to have a more direct impact on students and enables WEF to fund additional grant requests.
While the WEF team is proud of the record amount that was awarded, all the requests they received totaled over $138,000, indicating the need for more grant dollars.
“It is our goal to continue to grow our capacity, introduce new donors to our mission, and amplify our fundraising so that we can provide funding to more grant applicants and benefit more students as a result,” said Lynnette Kalmadge, WEF Executive Director. “We invite individuals and businesses to get involved with our organization because collaboration and partnerships can help us work towards this objective.”
Learn more about WEF and opportunities to support them from volunteering to sponsoring and more by visiting their website at www.waukeshaeducationfoundation.org.