Blog

  • BEF Announces $15,000 in Grants to Support Music and Special Education

    BEF Announces $15,000 in Grants to Support Music and Special Education

    BEF recently received grants from the Harvest Foundation and the Hoover Family Foundation to support music and special education students at all Beaverton’s 54 public schools. The awards, totaling $15,000, mark the second year both organizations have generously provided funds to support BEF programs and projects.

    “Creating long-standing relationships with our supporters is critical to providing consistent programing in our schools,” said Kristine Baggett, Executive Director of BEF. “Our renewed partnerships with the Harvest Foundation and the Hoover Family Foundation make it possible for BEF to seamlessly fund educators’ innovative solutions that fall beyond the scope of traditional school funding.”

    Thanks to our committed community, BEF will be able to leverage these awards to dramatically expand the opportunities we can offer, providing two to three-times the impact. Thank you to the Hoover Family Foundation and Harvest Foundation for your investment in Beaverton students.

  • BEF Receives Music Education Grant from the Harvest Foundation

    BEF Receives Music Education Grant from the Harvest Foundation

    We would like to share the Harvest Foundation’s recent award of $10,000 to BEF for music programs and projects. In our second year partnering with the Foundation, this year’s grant will support the Beaverton Band Together program and music-related classroom projects.

    Last year, funds were used to refurbish and repair more than 300 instruments for High School band students and distribute instruments to students at 10 elementary schools across the District. 

    “We’re incredibly humbled and excited to see this amazing support,” shared Aloha High School Band Director, Aliyah Jackson. 

    With the Harvest Foundation’s renewed support, BEF will help ensure students have the opportunity to experience the joy of music. 

  • The Hoover Family Foundation Awards $5,000 to BEF for Special Education

    The Hoover Family Foundation Awards $5,000 to BEF for Special Education

    Special education students and the staff that work with them recognize BEF’s long-standing commitment to them and the incredible work that they do. Our support is only possible due to organizations like the Hoover Family Foundation combined with generous key community contributors over the years. 

    The Hoover Family award will fund classroom needs throughout Beaverton’s schools, including purchasing critical adaptive technologies to help educators in their transformational work with non-verbal students. The Foundation’s first ever grant to BEF last year bought social emotional learning tools and made an incredible difference for elementary students at Beaver AcresKinnaman, Sato, and William Walker.  

    Thanks to BEF’s partnership with the Hoover Family Foundation, we can continue working in tandem with our dedicated educators to implement special education strategies in targeted ways. 

  • BEF Funds Beaverton’s Choice Projects for May 2021

    BEF Funds Beaverton’s Choice Projects for May 2021

    Thanks to our generous donors including: Dave Gettling Technology Fund, Intel Corp., First Tech Federal Credit Union, The Spirit of New Seasons Market Awards, AHS Go Warriors! Opportunity Fund, and the BEF Building STEAM 4 All Program, we have awarded $115,688, funding 57 classroom projects so far this academic year.  

    Sphero Bolt for Terra Linda’s Makerspace
    Teacher: Rishika Batheja

    Wiggles and Squiggles
    Teachers: Amy Rooney, Jhandery Huiza Mba, Kristin Antich, Lisa Archangel, Amanda Grock, Leslie Burnett, Ann Marie Caplan, Ruann Donnelly, Kirsten Yamada

    Raleigh Park Training Up Our Tigers
    Staff: Emily Lee

    MathRacks for Our Sato Raccoons
    Teachers: Emily Gentzkow, Amy Fowles, Danielle Hang, Aubrey Sibelman

    Mountain View Middle Hands-on Books for Hands-on Readers!
    Staff: Madeline Robinette

    Fund Findley First Graders Field Trip
    Teachers: Audrey Hood, Kristin Antich, Candice Stroeve, Miranda Johnson

    Let’s Read a Good Book for Cedar Park
    Staff: Debbie Hernandez

    Thanks to your generous contributions, the dollars raised are enabling enrichment programs in Beaverton schools that otherwise would not be possible. For current programs, and to begin your application, please visit Beaverton’s Choice, the hub that brings community and classrooms together. 

  • Herzog-Meier Auto Center Awards Scholarships to Eight Beaverton High School Art Students

    Herzog-Meier Auto Center Awards Scholarships to Eight Beaverton High School Art Students

    Eight Beaverton-area high school seniors will receive scholarships in the 33rd Annual Herzog-Meier Senior Art Scholarship Awards competition. The exhibit will run June 5-13 in the Herzog-Meier Auto Center Showroom (4275 SW 139th Way) in Beaverton and online.

    “Our families have been long-time supporters of the arts and art education. Creativity and innovation utilized in the artistic process, and demonstrated by our Beaverton students, will continue to be valued by employers like us. We are honored to support the emerging generation of local creatives while we respond to the ever-evolving conditions during this time of uncertainty,” explained Tom Herzog, Managing Partner at Herzog-Meier Auto Center.

    Since 1988, Herzog-Meier has donated more than $100,000 for scholarships to Beaverton School District students. The company continues with its collaboration with the Beaverton Education Foundation, a public charity that supports strong public schools in the Beaverton community by developing and maintaining strategic partnerships to fund programs that inspire and increase student achievement, for logistics, media, and event support.

    “We are thrilled to return to offering an in-person art show and award ceremony. This 33-year tradition is a rite of passage for the graduating seniors, and we are honored to help celebrate the arts,” said Kristine Baggett, Executive Director for Beaverton Education Foundation.

    Scholarship Winners include: 
    Lilia Piper, Underwater Ladies, Aloha High Schoo
    Jonah Gomez, The Ugliest Beauty, Arts & Communication Magnet Academy
    Clara Johnson, A lot Too Many, Beaverton High School
    Tessa Wijaya, She Will Reach the Stars, International School of Beaverton
    Angelica Ramos , No Spoons Only Knives, Merlo Station
    Simone Talbert , Portraits, Mountainside High School
    Amuthan Ilavarasan, GROWTH, Sunset High School
    Vicky Siah, Noodle Soup, Westview High School