With the threat of budget cuts always on the horizon, one Lake Orion group works towards making sure students? education is affected as little as possible.
The Lake Orion Education Foundation awards mini-grants to teachers and advisors to fund opportunities that encourage and promote education excellence and student achievement.
The Foundation was first developed in 1992 and operated for a few years before falling by the wayside due to loss of momentum and participation, according to current Foundation President Steve Appledorn.
During this time, Appledorn said, the group awarded between $10,000 to $15,000 in many different mini-grants to Lake Orion educators.
Appledorn said that the Foundation was reactivated in 2005 when the administration realized that the schools would be looking more to the public for support, since the pressures around budget issues were continuing to intensify.
‘When we got rolling again, our first fundraising activity was in November of 2005,? said Appledorn. ‘We held a dinner dance with really good support from the community and local businesses. It was a really nice fundraiser to get going and it was a success.?
He added that so far the Foundation has raised between $25,000 to $30,000 that has gone back into Lake Orion schools.
The grants are awarded on two different cycles throughout the school year, with teachers being able to apply for ones awarded in the fall or in the spring.
‘We have organized the grant program so that we give grants out to every school and we roughly proportion the grant into the school populations,? Appledorn added.
Not only are the grants offered to elementary, middle and high school levels, but the grant program also benefits community education, adult education, special education and Learning Options.
‘Ultimately, we would like to help all aspects of school and reach out maybe into arts and athletics and those sorts of things, but currently our priority, really our sole priority, is to nurture academic excellence,? Appledorn added.
The Foundation, when awarding its grants, tries to reach as many students as possible for both short-term and long-term.
‘When the budget gets tight in the schools, sometimes things that weren’t extras are now considered extras, so what we are really focused on are things that touch the most kids possible,? Appledorn said.
‘Maybe things that we are buying, reading materials or something else, have lasting impact, so it’s not just a current initiative but something where the materials may be around for a while, and it can have a lasting impact on student education,? he added.
Since the Foundation solely operates on money raised, they have two events planned in 2007. Their second annual golf outing will held on June 19, 2007 at Devil’s Ridge. A dinner dance and auction, ‘An Evening for Education II,? will be held on November 10, 2007 at Canterbury Castle.
Appledorn said that the Foundation is looking for community support, not only in attendance, but also in donations. Individuals and businesses can sponsor a hole at the golf outing, and they are looking for items to be donated for the auction.
‘Those will be our primary fundraising events this year,? Appledorn said. ‘We certainly encourage people to not only participate in our fundraisers, but obviously we would appreciate any volunteer help that we can get to help put on those events, and then we certainly encourage outright donations.?
For more information about the Lake Orion Education Foundation and their grant program, they can be visited online on the district’s website at www.lakeorion.k12.mi.us/community/foundation or by calling (248)814-6808.