Schools get a boost from business: Foundation increases number of grants for innovative programs
By Charlie Breitrose/ Daily News Staff
Tuesday, July, 16, 2002

FRAMINGHAM -- With the help of local business, the Framingham Education Foundation hopes to expand the number of grants it gives to teacher to run innovative classroom programs.

The foundation was born shortly after the passage of Proposition 2 1/2, which limits the amount communities can raise taxes to 2 1/2 percent, said Sherri Sigel, development director for the foundation.

"Framingham, like other towns, was looking for an alternative way to support education," Sigel said.

The foundation has handed out about $100,000 to teachers in the Framingham public schools to encourage new and inventive ways of teaching, Sigel said.

"The foundation doesn't fund things in the regular curriculum," Sigel said. "We fund professional development, innovative ways to enhance teaching, and pilot programs that could become part of the curriculum."

Most of the money is doled out through the mini-grant program, where teachers are awarded up to $1,000 for their projects.

The foundation will continue to hand out mini-grants, but Sigel said the group has larger aspirations.

"We hope to fund the needs of students in an entire school building instead of an entire classroom," Sigel said.

Wilson Elementary School teacher Pam Goldman received money from the foundation the past two years to create take-home writing kits. Now the whole school can benefit from the project.

"The first year I created traveling writing centers for each of the second grade classes at Woodrow Wilson," Goldman said. "My principal (Robin Welch) liked the idea so much he asked if we could make kits for each classroom at the school."

Each box has several kinds of stationery, pens, pencils and crayons. The first year, Goldman got funds to make two kits for each second grade classroom, and the second year she got additional funding to outfit the rest of the classes with one kit each.

Students take turns bringing the box home and doing one of the projects. Some of the ideas Goldman gave to the children include a thank you letter for a birthday gift and a letter to grandma.

The box proved very popular with students and their parents, Goldman said.

"The students were excited about using real stationary, not lined paper," Goldman said. "And the parents helped, which is great."

Because the money came from the foundation, Goldman had the freedom to shop around to find exactly what she wanted.

"I couldn't have been creative (if I was using school money)," Goldman said. "I would have to order through a specific catalog.

"I am very grateful to the foundation for the grants over the last two years."

The group found it harder to raise money this year, Sigel said. Most of the group's money comes from private, individual donations received at the annual spelling bee, which took place late last fall.

"It was a little bit more difficult to raise funds because it fell shortly after Sept. 11," Sigel said. "A lot of people had already allocated their charitable donations to Sept. 11 related organizations."

The foundation will continue to solicit individual for cash, but to get money for bigger projects the group must tap a new set of donors, she said. With corporate donations coming in, projects like Goldman's can be delivered to the whole school in just one year.

"We're hoping to have businesses sponsor mini-grants," Sigel said. "So if a class is doing a project on engineering, an engineering firm could sponsor that."