Oakwood Schools Foundation (OSF) announced the results of its fall grant cycle at the October Board of Education meeting on Monday, October 14. Three new projects were funded by the Foundation with an additional project being funded by the Oakwood Fine Arts Boosters.
Grants funded this cycle include support for the Oakwood Wellness Center and Hope Squad which are student-led resources that work in tandem to champion mental fitness and support students navigating challenges on a drop-in or regular basis. OSF is also pleased to support two STEM-related grants, the Precision Protein Analysis Grant, submitted by Heidi Edwards will purchase equipment allowing students to extract and purify edited bacterial DNA for further analysis. The Second STEM grant, submitted by Katie Poppa and Nate Thompson will purchase LEGO Spike Prime Robotics kits for use in the Junior High’s Robotics I and II classes giving students an opportunity to advance their skills by developing algorithms, and mastering advanced programming. Grants such as these directly impact student and teacher needs, enrich students’ academic experience, and support our dedicated teachers in novel ways.
Grants and Programs Chair Emma Butler represented the Foundation at the Monday night meeting and expressed gratitude to OSF’s donors for their annual contributions which enable the Foundation to administer the twice-annual collaborative grants process and provide financial support for programs which enhance the educational experience for Oakwood students and teachers.
“Oakwood Schools Foundation would like to recognize the care and generosity of our donors and the Oakwood community. We thank them for their annual support, without which we would be unable to administer this collaborative process which has funded well over one million dollars in grants since 1991,” said Butler during her remarks on Monday night.
The collaborative grants process has many benefits for our schools and for collaborating organizations such as the PTO’s and the Oakwood Fine Arts Boosters. It allows applicants to save precious time by submitting a single application that is received by multiple potential funding organizations. Community organizations also share and optimize resources while supporting the most purpose-aligning grants for each organization.
OSF’s grants program is designed to encourage, facilitate, recognize, and reward innovative and creative instructional programs and ideas in education. Teachers, principals and school administrators may apply for grants to fund projects that benefit individual classrooms or programs.. Through the grants program, the Foundation has given over $1 million to the Schools since the program began 1991.