Buckeye Reporter

Making a difference in the lives of students sometimes takes the entire community.

For the last 37 years, community members and volunteers with the Fairview Park Education Foundation have made that difference by providing resources and financial support to supplement educational experiences. This non-profit organization raises funds throughout the year and specifically supports only the Fairview Park City Schools.

The Foundation features two programs, one for student scholarships and the other for teacher grants. Student scholarships are awarded each spring to graduating seniors. The teacher grants are awarded twice a year to staff in the district.

“The teacher grants are something extra in the classroom that gives [students] enrichment to the curriculum,” Denise Devine, president of FPEF Board of Trustees explained. “We feel that with the money we can give back that we can help with any additional, exciting projects that maybe the school district can’t pay for.”

This past December, the Foundation awarded five teacher grants totaling $6,109. Each school building had a teacher awarded at least one grant. Since 1984, over 400 teacher grants in total have been distributed.

“The staff knows we are here, trying to give additional funds to the classroom,” Devine added. “They’re very energetic when they receive the grants. And there are certain teachers that apply all the time. They know they can add something extra to their classroom that they might not get out of a principal’s fund or somewhere else in the school budget. This is another way to do it.”

One of this year’s grants went to Graham Codney and Kim Dunlap for their elementary-middle school collaboration with Sphero robots. The robots are shared between the two teachers are used by students in grades four through six.

“They are basically advanced, programmable robots that allow users to control the movement,” Codney explained. “In the beginning, students just do basic programs to get it to move in a square or to get the robot to orbit around a fake sun. Fifth graders design a Roman chariot, and they use the Sphero to be the horse pulling their chariot along. Kim Dunlap does a boat design challenge. The Spheros are waterproof.”

Codney notes that the robots also help students problem-solve, collaborate, and communicate within their group to overcome challenges.

“Very few of our students are going to grow up to be programmers, coders, or computer engineers,” Codney said. “But they all will need those vital skills, like communication and collaboration. And when students see something so engaging, they don’t even realize that it’s hard and challenging. They just want to solve the problem and I rarely have any students who are disengaged in what we are doing.”

Codney hopes more teachers in the district consider applying for grants from the Education Foundation.

“We have this really great resource we can tap into,” Codney added. “Think of something that would be beneficial to your students to add to your classroom. What can I do additionally for our students to give them a better educational experience?”

The spring deadline for FPCS teachers to submit their grant requests is April 1, 2022.

The Fairview Park Education Foundation accepts donations throughout the entire year. In addition, they annually host a golf outing to raise money for both teacher grants and student scholarships. For more information about donations, fundraising events, grants, and scholarships, visit www.fpedfoundation.org.

Original source can be found here.