Gateway fifth-grader Kiara Markewicz, about to crack eggs as she prepares French toast during the “Healthy Cooking, Healthy Eating” after-school class, funded by the Gateway Education Foundation. (Photo submitted)
HUNTINGTON – At their March 18 meeting, the Board of Directors of the Gateway Education Foundation approved funding for new projects through their “Funds for Learning” program.
The Board approved $500 for the high school’s science field trip to the Bodies Exhibition in New York City. The Bodies Exhibit uses over 200 human bodies, preserved through a Polymer Preservation Process, to display various functions of the human body, including skeletal, muscular, nervous, respiratory, digestive, and circulatory systems. The funding will defray the cost of the field trip for 55 high school students in the anatomy and physiology and advanced biology classes.
The Board also approved $2700 in advance funding for bringing Mt. Everest climber and author Ed Webster to Gateway for school-day programs with elementary and upper level students, along with an evening presentation to the community. The group of staff members organizing this event will return funding by obtaining business sponsors and selling tickets to the community event. Ed Webster is author of the book “Snow in the Kingdom: My Storm Years on Everest”, which was a finalist for the Boardman-Tasher Mountain Literature Prize (London) and Mountain Literature Finalist at the Banff Mountain Book Festival (Canada).
The Board is also offering a one-time Literacy Grant to Gateway teachers in grades Pre-K through 6. Assistant Principal Elizabeth Bienia secured $500 in donations to the foundation, in lieu of gifts during a recent birthday. “Liz’s Literacy Fund” is offering funding to classroom teachers at the elementary and middle school levels who need additional resources to do a special literacy project. Applications for that program were emailed to eligible teachers on March 25.
In other news, the Board heard a presentation from fifth grader Makayla Pappas, Gateway Nurse Jodi Cabral-Croke, and Middle School After-School Program Coordinator Shannon Madden about the “Healthy Eating, Healthy Cooking” project funded by the foundation. This collaborative project was also led by the Gateway School-Based Health Center’s Nutritionist Rachel Keim. Students studied nutrition facts, basic cooking and food safety techniques and learned to prepare healthy, nutritious snacks and foods that they can prepare at home for their families. Students also created their own cookbooks/food journals. Board members were treated to student-made fruit and yogurt parfaits topped with homemade granola during the presentation.
Board members are also working on several upcoming events. The Shipman Memorial Concert (formerly the Crane Concert) will be held on Friday, May 24 at 7 p.m. in the Gateway Performing Arts Center. This concert will be used to raise money for the foundation’s Shipman Memorial Fund, which funds improvements to the Gateway Performing Arts Center. The fund was established to honor Rob Shipman, a retired Gateway teacher who was integral in the design of the center and led the tech crews that operated the sound, stage and lighting for many years.
A 50th Anniversary Sub-Committee has also formed to plan special events for Gateway’s Jubilee Year, which begins will be held during the 2013-2014 school year.
The Gateway Education Foundation formed in 2011 to enhance the educational opportunities for students and classrooms in the Gateway Regional School District. Donations are tax-deductible, and can be mailed to the foundation at 12 Littleville Road, Huntington, MA 01050. For more information, visit our website at http://gatewayeducationfoundation.yolasite.com .
