Blog

Thanks to our generous donors Beaverton Education Foundation has awarded $81,875 to fund 57 classroom projects so far for the 2023-24 academic year.  

Help the Heritage Spanish class acquire an authentic Spanish class set of books!

Whitford Middle School
Students Served: 25
Recipient: Rubi Cardenas
Award: $500

Bilingual eighth graders have greater access to the literary options that come with speaking more than one language thanks to your support for their Beaverton’s Choice project. Funds raised facilitated student participation in book club discussions using authentic Spanish text, “Memorias del águila y del jaguar” by Isabel Allende.

Reading the World Around Us – Print and Graphic Novel Studies

Southridge High School
Students Served: 1,200
Recipients: Kacy Smith Paterson & Evan Tyler
Award: $2,900

Funding provided in part by the Southridge PTO

Language Arts teachers can better support students at their personal reading level with new and innovative lessons focused on print and graphic novel studies. Funding for their successful Beaverton’s Choice project delivered books into the classroom that engage students and are appreciated by educators and students alike for their art, design, and writing. 

Support Kinnaman Students Move with Sensory Paths

Kinnaman Elementary
Students Served: 490
Recipients: Alida Jurich & Katy Rubenstein
Award: $1,065

Kinnaman students can better regulate themselves and are ready to learn with the help of fun and interactive sensory paths throughout the school. Funds raised through Beaverton’s Choice purchased eight different engaging paths that encourage students to tiptoe, hop, stretch, and breathe as they travel the hallway to the library, cafeteria, and classrooms.

Creating Supportive Sensory Environments for Terra Linda Students

Terra Linda Elementary
Students Served: 286
Recipients: Allison Henning, Cathy Cyphers, Jen Hefty, Sarah Gooding & Chloe Evans
Award: $1,224

Funding provided in part by the Terra Linda PTC

Students at Terra Linda have a more inclusive, supportive, and engaging educational experience thanks to your support for additional sensory tools and resources. Funds raised through their Beaverton’s Choice project purchased light covers and noise-reducing headphones to create learning environments that reduce overstimulation, improve concentration, and promote a calming atmosphere. 

The Conestoga Jazz Band Needs New Ivories to Tickle!!

Conestoga Middle School

Students Served: 281
Recipient: Jeremy Kane
Award: $2,030

Funding provided in part by the Beaverton Band Together initiative

After school band students are jazzed they can fully utilize their donated keyboard thanks to our community’s support for a cart and amplifier. Generous donations to their recent Beaverton’s Choice project will ensure the music program continues to grow at Conestoga Middle School. 

Attendance Matters: Alarm Clocks and Anxiety Supports  

Beaver Acres Elementary

Students Served: 10
Recipient: Joshua Anderson
Award: $159

Beaver Acres’ students have the simple tools to help improve attendance and create life-long positive habits thanks to our supportive community. Funds raised purchased various time awareness tools and items to help students integrate positive affirmations and limit anxiety.

Help ISB with the Social Media Detox Challenge

International School of Beaverton
Students Served: 870
Recipient: Evan Robbins
Award: $1,060

In-kind support was provided by Classic Body Restoration, Cup & Cone, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and Shake Shack.

ISB students experienced life while disconnected from social media during the schoolwide Social Media Detox Challenge. Prize donations, donated by generous local businesses and individuals like you, incentivized the ISB community to explore a healthier relationship with social media and become more aware of the impact on students’ wellness.

Building a Positive School Community at HPMS with the Husky Hut Store!

Highland Park Middle School
Students Served: 700
Recipients: Jen Jensen, Skye Johnson, Nicole Safranski & Sho Shikeota
Award: $2,500

Highland Park Middle Schoolers are Building a Positive School Community thanks to support for their recent Beaverton’s Choice project for the Husky Hut student store. The student-run store provides incentives for positive behavior and leadership opportunities for all students, contributing to a culture of pride in Highland Park. 

Printing Imagination with 3D Printers

Elmonica Elementary
Students Served: 415
Recipients: Yu-chi Wen & Angela Mendel
Award: $900

Funding provided in part by the BEF Building STEAM 4 All initiative

Elmonica students are designing and creating their own ideas with new 3D printers. Thanks to funding from their recent Beaverton’s Choice project, students are working together to creatively problem solve, while focusing on STEM topics and subjects.

Leap into Learning with SRC at Spectra Gymnastics

Raleigh Park SRC Grade 3-5 

Students Served: 7
Recipient: Tenell Dietzman
Award: $250

Thanks to support from thoughtful donors for the Leap into Learning Beaverton’s Choice project, students in Raleigh Park’s Structured Routine Center (SRC) visited a local gymnastics studio staffed and equipped just for them. Students rotated through stations designed to focus on social-emotional learning and sensory processing skills for individuals with disabilities. Participating in an adventure geared just for them is one to remember.

Music for All at Beaver Acres Elementary

Beaver Acres Elementary
Students Served: 850
Recipients: Michael Smith, Christine Wise & Jacob Mertz
Award: $1,850

Funding provided in part by the Beaverton Band Together initiative

All Beaver Acres’ students have the opportunity to capture the power of music education thanks to our community’s support for xylophones, ukuleles and recorders. Providing Music for All gives students a natural opportunity to build multicultural understanding and develop their own unique strengths, awareness and self-respect.

Digital Music-Making for the Southridge Pit Orchestra

Southridge High School
Students Served: 120
Recipients: Cameron Jerde, Anna Rikli & Jim Fewer
Award: $3,825

Funding provided in part by the Beaverton Band Together initiative

The Southridge High School Pit Orchestra will provide live music for the school’s upcoming production of The Spongebob Musical, thanks to our generous community. Support for their Beaverton’s Choice project, Digital Music-Making, funded a Digital Mallet Percussion instrument and a Digital Percussion Pad, taking the place of approximately 10 other instruments!

Thanks to your generous contributions, the dollars raised support enrichment programs in Beaverton schools. For current programs, and to begin your application, please visit Beaverton’s Choice, Beaverton Education Foundation’s online resource that brings community and classrooms together.

The Beaverton Education Foundation is excited to announce summer and after school learning awards of $177,000 that will reach an estimated 3,500 students this summer and during the 2024-2025 school year.

Kids Count grants provide important and engaging opportunities for students at all levels throughout our Beaverton Schools. Only through the support of our donor community are these funds available to reinvest in improving and diversifying student learning.

• Returning this summer, three student favorites: Summer Middle School Band Camp, Middle School Trade Explorations and Summer Boost. New this year, funding to expand and improve: 
• Return of Science Fairs (after 15 years) at Mountain View and Five Oaks
• Health Careers Education at BASE 
• Real-world business skills for special education students at Aloha High School by launching a start-up coffee cart that will be open to all AHS students
• Access to art, diversity, and reading at Ridgewood Elementary when students participate in a student-designed and informed mural
• After-school reading and math enrichment programs for at-risk students at Montclair and Raleigh Hills 

In response to the 2024-2025 school schedule change, the BEF Board voted to approve an additional round of funding, available in August 2024, for new requests focused on addressing impacts from school schedules that meet student educational needs.

A complete list of projects, by school:

We are excited to introduce four community leaders who recently joined the BEF Board and bring unique perspectives, ideas, and talent to the BEF team. Please join us in welcoming: Jonas Cisneros (Intel Corporation); Jessica McBride (Strategies 360); Vincent Pollard (OnPoint Community Credit Union); and Olga Vargas (Vernier Software and Technology).

Each of these members shares BEF’s vision to create opportunities for Beaverton students to reach their highest potential. Over the next few months, we’ll be highlighting all of these members. Today, we introduce, Jonas Cisneros.

Jonas Cisneros, Intel Corporation

From coaching youth sports teams to managing nearly 500 employees at Intel, Jonas promotes success through motivation and enjoys watching people grow to reach their potential. His inspiration to bring passion to everything he does comes from his father’s advice to “échale ganas” (“give it your all”). 

We asked Jonas what drew him to the Beaverton Education Foundation: “BEF is a great organization where the investment in our youth is paying off in the community. Now that my kids are in college, I want to give back to the community and am excited to see the continued impact that BEF has on our local youth. Beaverton is a great place to raise kids and I’m happy to support BEF’s work to ensure this continues.”

A Process Engineering Manager at Intel, Jonas was born in Matamoros, Mexico, and is a member of the Intel Latino Leadership Council.

Pictured above from left to right: Oluwatosin (‘Tosin) Iyasele (BEF board member), Jonas Cisneros (BEF board member), Kristine Baggett (Executive Director) accepted BEF’s Best of Beaverton Award at the Beaverton State of the City last month.

After investing more than $42 million into non-profit organizations dedicated to Oregon’s youth, including $300,000 toward BEF initiatives and programs, the Juan Young Trust is officially closing its doors. BEF is honored to have been recognized by the Trust as a trusted partner for over two decades.

The Trust was established with a mission to impact the health, education and well-being of young Oregonians. BEF’s mission to support Beaverton students in reaching their highest potential aligned with the Trust’s investment vision and created a strong foundation for an enduring relationship.

“The Juan Young Trust and Trustee, Antoinette Arenz, have been a tremendous thought partner for BEF,” shared Kristine Baggett. “While we are sad to see them go, their legacy will live on through the tremendous investments that positively impacted Oregon communities. My time working with Toni has been a highlight of my tenure with BEF. Her insight, often informed by her children and grandchildren (products of Beaverton schools) about the ‘realities’ at school was a valuable perspective.”

Juan Young Trust awards provided BEF the opportunity to stretch into a variety of initiatives. Most recently, the Juan Young Trust responded to BEF’s PE + Play initiative with a $50,000 gift that allowed BEF to provide transformational investments at several schools including providing three middle schools, Whitford, Mountain View and Cedar Park, the PE equipment of their dreams. 

Enduring investments into BEF from community leaders, like the Juan Young Trust, enable us to respond to the needs of Beaverton students in a timely and relevant way. BEF is grateful for the confidence the Juan Young Trust placed in our work.

Big thanks to Madden Industrial Craftsmen for being the first to donate to Beaverton’s Choice project, Collaborating at the Construction Olympics. And, thank you to Premier Kitchens and Cabinets for your donation that helped us cross the finish line.

On May 10, at the Merlo Campus CTE Construction Tech Magnet Program, students from a variety of BSD home school campuses that participate in the magnet program, along with Aloha and Mountainside HS CTE Construction Tech students, will showcase their skills in the CTE Construction Olympics. With industry partners as the audience and evaluators, students will demonstrate what they have learned throughout the year. 

Collaboration in the construction industry is the key to success. The Construction Olympics provides students the opportunity to replicate a workplace setting and experience the same collaborative problem-solving situations a craftsperson might encounter in the field.

Your support makes this engaging experience possible and continues career-connected learning efforts. Investment in our construction tech programs is an investment in our future construction workforce. Thank you!