Ridgewood Education Foundation busy supporting students
To the editor:
This year the Ridgewood Education Foundation funded 24 grants to benefit more than 3,000 students in the Ridgewood Public Schools. These enhancements to the classroom curriculum begin with innovative teachers and parents writing thoughtful and creative applications for funds that will bring their ideas to life. These ideas may translate to experts visiting classes to share their talents, the introduction of new teaching materials to bring a new dimension to the course of study or piloting the use of new technologies in the classroom that might later be used throughout the district. Their ideas are funded through foundation grants. We salute every principal, teacher and parent who took the time to apply for a grant this year.
The grants were made for an impressive array of creative ideas that expand upon the curriculum. For example: at RHS 70 seniors analyzed seasonal pollutants in Ho-Ho-Kus Brook in a program their teacher described as “real live science”; at GW, middle school students participated in a school-wide anti-bullying program; at Hawes, all 410 students worked with an artist to create a mural celebrating school’s global ancestry; and in the Ridgewood Early Development Program (The RED Program), 40 students learned about good nutrition and healthy eating choices. This is only a sampling of this year’s grants, we hope you will visit our website (ridgewoodedfoundation.org) to see all of this and past years’ grants.
As in the past, this year we continued to sponsor community-wide educational programs like Super Science Saturday, the Ridgewood Public Library’s Reel Voices Film Festival and the RHS College Speakers Series. These programs reach students and parents across the village and we are proud to help make them happen.
Our ability to support quality educational experiences in the classroom and in the community is due in part to the many Ridgewood families who support the Foundation. Every year more people recognize the value of our programs and choose to support our work. This year more than 150 parents, alumni, educators, friends and corporations donated to our Annual Fund Campaign. The campaign closes on Aug. 31 … so it’s not too late to contribute. We accept donations through our website, ridgewoodedfoundation.org.
To our many donors we say thank you. Your generosity helps us continue to support curriculum-enhancing programs across the Ridgewood schools and we believe these programs contribute to the quality education that makes the Ridgewood Public Schools among the best in the country.
Jennie Smith Wilson
President, Board of Trustees
Ridgewood Education Foundation
https://www.ridgewoodedfoundation.org/