News
& Information
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Published September 30, 2010 in The
Manchester Cricket
written by the Spaulding Education Fund and Enrichment Fund Executive
Committees
Separate
Education Funds
Working Together
Inspired by the desire to support and advance the quality of a public education provided to every child in the Manchester-Essex community, now and in the future, the Spaulding Education Fund and the newly formed MERSD Enrichment Fund are set to launch a new year of fundraising and grant giving. There are many ways that the two groups complement one another, yet they are unique in their missions. This article gives a primer on both groups.
The Spaulding Education Fund(SEF) now in its 21styear, is a parent volunteer organization that opens doors to innovative curriculum-based learning. Its focus is to fund pilot programs and provide new resources that advance, enrich and enliven the classroom experience. There are two grant cycles fall and spring to which faculty administrators, students, and parents from within the Manchester Essex Regional School District (MERSD) may apply. Upon award, funds are immediately distributed. Recent grants include the Activeboard System in both elementary schools, the Elmo Document Readers at MMS, the Student Response System Buzzers at the middle school, Senior Physics Lab ware, MERHS flip video, DECA and the Robotics Team funding, just to name a few.
SEF has no endowment and does not fund school sports programs. Through the generous support of citizens and businesses, SEF helps to fulfill the most basic promise of a community?to provide excellent public education for everyone. Please watch for the annual fall appeal letter and the 2ndannual “Night of Stars” Talent Show fundraiser on November 7th. To find out more about SEF, visit www.spauldingeducationfund.org.
The MERSD Enrichment Fund(EF) was started as an endowment fund with the goal of linking strategic District goals in the specific areas of Humanities, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and Environment to key funding opportunities. The EF has an advisory board consisting of community members and School Committee representatives from each town and is administered by the Essex County Community Foundation. Unlike SEF’s focus on pilot programs, the Enrichment Fund is designed to grant multi-year programs through a single grant cycle each spring.
As the EF’s goal is to fund long-term programs, donations are allocated 50% to an endowment fund and 50% to a grant pool. The EF also has naming opportunities for the new Middle and High School. To date, the EF has supported Humanities week, bringing in the author Anita Diamant. EF also launched the “Got a Seat Campaign” for naming of auditorium seats to honor a family, student or teacher and funded the Green Team initiative for a sustainable garden. This garden project is the start of an annual enriching experience for all students as they plan, tend and harvest produce to be part of their luncheon menu. For more information, visit www.mersdenrichmentfund.org.
As their taglines suggest, while Spaulding opens doors to excellence in the Manchester Essex Public Schools, the MERSD Enrichment Fund continues that excellence. The two groups are currently creating a common grant application to ease the submission process. Grant requests are screened by the Superintendent and Curriculum Director to ensure a fit to the educational goals of the District and then directed to the appropriate funding source. We urge you to learn more and to support these two funds that, working together, so greatly serve our students and our schools.