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In the first part of this year, projects funded by Beaverton Education Foundation’s crowdfunding platform, Beaverton’s Choice, have reached more than 1,400 students in elementary, middle and high schools throughout the district in a short time. 

“This definitely helped lift our spirits this season — thank you!” said Cinnamon Kleeman, vocal music and band teacher at Aloha High School, who’s Beaverton’s Choice project received funding at the end of the year.

Funding for these projects was possible thanks in large part to proceeds from our annual fall staff appreciation gift campaign. This December, BEF hand-delivered 567 personalized thank you notes to district staff from our generous community. In turn we were able to invest more than $8,000 to support Beaverton’s Choice projects.

“BEF’s staff appreciation campaigns in fall and spring benefit our schools in many ways,” explained Kristine Baggett, BEF executive director. “They help our community honor our educators while funding hands-on programs and projects that reach Beaverton’s 39,000 students.”

Join our email list for all the latest BEF news, including the next staff appreciation campaign coming up this spring in honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week.

Thanks to our generous donors Beaverton Education Foundation has awarded $72,608, funding 42 classroom projects so far for the 2022-23 academic year.

Sing Out Loud!

Aloha High School
Students Served: 100
Recipient: Cinnamon Kleeman
Award: $2,900

Funding provided in part by the Go Warriors! Endowment Fund

Every audience member will be able to experience Aloha High School choir students clearly, from every seat, in every venue, thanks to funds raised from their recent Beaverton’s Choice campaign. New sound equipment including wireless microphones, portable speakers, cords and mixers will help the choir expand musical style exploration and context, making it possible to highlight students’ best sounds and go on the road for field trips and events with confidence.

Spheros for Stoller!

Stoller Middle School
Students Served: 950
Recipient: Connor Nelson
Award: $3,400

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

Students at Stoller Middle School will have opportunities to recognize their full potential in STEM with a fun and rigorous computer science experience, thanks to your support for a Sphero Bolt Power Pack (15 Spheros, accessories and lesson plans). Spheros provide students who have historically not seen themselves as part of the computer science community and those who are already excited about coding the opportunity to engage, inspire and grow their passion.

Careers in Biology

Aloha High School
Students Served: 106
Recipient: Shealyn Burfeind
Award: $344

Funding provided by the Go Warriors! Opportunity Fund

Aloha High School Biology students will experience hands-on, visual science lessons with direct applications to the world around them, thanks to our community’s generous support. Under the guidance of an OHSU medical resident, students will learn how cell biology applies to research and medicine while also discovering possible future STEM careers.

Step Right Up & Support the Tech Carnival

Whitford Middle School
Students Served: 110
Recipient: Jill Otermat
Award: $450

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

Get ready for Whitford Middle School’s second Technology Carnival. Thanks to your support, the carnival’s momentum will continue and allow another round of students to showcase their engineering knowledge and skill with carnival games they design and engineer using recycled materials.

Beyond the Screen – Zoo Tripping

Beaver Acres Elementary School
Students Served: 125
Recipients: Evan Churchill, Shannon Hanson, Sandra Hoppenrath, Emily Reberry & Angela Steindorf 
Award: $859

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

Fifth graders at Beaver Acres Elementary School will soon transform into field scientists, thanks to our community’s support for their upcoming zoo field trip. Field-trips provide experiences that cannot be duplicated in the classroom, increasing student interest, knowledge and motivation. Many students have never experienced the excitement of going on a school field trip due to distance learning, but your support made it happen.

Forget the turkey, we’re talking HAM

All BSD Middle School FutureLabs 
Students Served: 600+
Recipients: Melanie Dougan, G Douglas Bundy, Rick Bush, James Grimes, Eric Lemoine, Ben Lloyd, Annette Noratli, Eric Salkeld, Doug Singer, Morgan Skjeie, Tyler Smith & Sarah Warren 
Award: $6,090

Funding provided in part by Amateur Radio Relay League, Amateur Radio Relay Group, Inc. / K7RPT and Oregon Tualatin Valley Amateur Radio Community Services

FutureLabs in Beaverton’s nine middle schools will bring two new hands-on and collaborative amateur (or HAM) radio units to the 8th grade experience. These units  incorporate science and math learning with new concepts and equipment that can lead to a potential hobby and for some, and can lead to a life-long interest and engagement in the amateur radio community.

Equipping Augmentative and Alternative Communication Modeling

31 Specialized Program Classrooms throughout the district
Students Served: 150
Recipients: 34 Teachers & Speech Language Pathologists
Award: $3,500

All Specialized Program Classrooms at the elementary school level will be equipped with a dedicated modeling Ipad, plus the most-widely used Augmentative and Alternative Communication apps needed for success, thanks to your continued support for their Beaverton’s Choice project. In our second year supporting Specialized Program Classrooms, additional Ipads greatly expand the availability of useful technology beyond traveling Speech and Language Pathologists and provide our location-specific teachers with a classroom device. 

Relive History with Revolutionary Books

Terra Linda Elementary School
Students Served: 50
Recipients: Keely Weiland & Amy Wick 
Award: $800

Funding provided in part by the Mike Osborne Memorial Award Fund. In recognition of the importance and need for academic excellence and opportunity for all students, the Mike Osborne Memorial Award Fund provides funds to support literacy-based Classroom Innovation Awards like this one.

History will come alive for 5th grade students at Terra Linda Elementary with exciting materials to complement the newly implemented U.S. history curriculum. Thanks to our generous community, students will each receive individual constitution books, artwork and chapter books that will be used in book clubs.

Designing Adventure!

Tumwater Middle School
Students Served: 70
Recipients: Rob Hillhouse & Miranda Lahr
Award: $1,225

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

Tumwater Middle School’s Dungeons & Dragons club members can design, print, paint and use a totally unique character in their games with their new 3D printer, non-toxic resin and necessary software. 

Learning with Light

Ridgewood Elementary School
Students Served: 75
Recipients: Julie Curtis, Becky Powell and Cindy Simantel 
Award: $510 

Ridgewood Elementary kindergarten students can grow their imaginations and develop valuable storytelling skills with a new light table, thanks to your support. The entire grade can now build imaginary habitats, explore color, pattern, design, art and math concepts using translucent items that reflect and absorb the table’s light.

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, Beaverton Education Foundation’s online resource that brings community and classrooms together.

In the span of only a couple hours one morning this fall, the Beaverton Education Foundation and Southridge High School communities rallied and helped make French teacher Edward Prindle’s vision for new classroom learning materials a reality. 

Thanks to these donors, Prindle has stocked his classroom with new French books and maps. Previously, his students had to read different books since there weren’t enough copies for everyone, which made class discussions much harder. And without maps, they had trouble grasping the larger context of their lessons and the diversity of French communities around the world. 

“Having up-to-date materials helps our students dream bigger and see their lives as part of a bigger picture,” says Prindle. “It also shows them that learning another language is important and deserves the necessary funding for the best chance of success.”  

He purchased new maps of France and of the French-speaking world, which he references daily to provide context and background information for the stories they read and cultural elements they discuss. He also bought several new French-language books — two new novellas and one novel — so each member of the class can have a copy. The books are fresh, rich, and challenging, meeting the needs of both the earlier levels of French class, as well as the more advanced international baccalaureate class, Prindle says.

“I like having my own copy of our books because now we can have free reading time in class, and I can go at my own pace,” said one student. Prindle also added that the books give students opportunities to compare their thoughts and understanding with each other.

“I can’t believe how quickly my BEF Beaverton’s Choice campaign goal was met, thanks in big part to BEF generously matching the funds donated by individuals in our community,” says Prindle. “BEF made the process really easy for me and helped make my classroom more like how I envision it.”  

BEF engages with educators to identify a path toward a brighter future for our students, and leverages contributions from foundations, businesses and community members to bring educator’s ideas to life. Explore projects that align with your passions and support a Beaverton’s Choice campaign today. Every gift makes a difference.

Smiles and chatter fill the gym as students eagerly run through the obstacle course using cones, hula hoops, balls and scooters. They finish PE with five minutes of meditation and feel ready to take on math when they return to class. 

Each year, as PE supplies dwindle, fewer  Beaverton students have engaging PE experiences like this — resulting in missed learning outcomes, decreased overall wellness and inconsistent opportunities across schools. The Beaverton Education Foundation is partnering with the Nike Community Impact Fund, the Beaverton School District and community donors to fill these gaps through the Geared Up for PE campaign.

“Simple exercise equipment can be used in so many ways to positively impact students far beyond their time in the gym,” explained elementary PE teacher on special assignment Celia Whitehead. “Unfortunately, for a number of reasons from distance learning and staff changes to daily wear and tear, much of our PE equipment desperately needs to be replaced.”  

Research shows that structured play in PE classes leads to healthy habits, provides a break from technology, increases focus and creates hands-on opportunities to use and strengthen their social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. 

“Together, we can revitalize and refresh the equipment at every elementary school so all our students have the same robust PE experience,” says Kristine Baggett, BEF’s executive director. “Geared Up for PE ensures that each of our 51 elementary PE teachers has the hula hoops, scooters and multi-functional cones they need for all their students.” 

Your support can give every Beaverton student the tools to create healthy habits and prepare for their brightest future. Donations of all sizes make a difference. A donation of just $42 purchases a scooter, and $564 buys a full set of new equipment for one elementary school.

Thanks to you, so far this school year, Beaverton Education Foundation has awarded $110,039 for 65 hands-on, student-focused programs and classroom projects. Our work to support bottom-up transformation and ensure all Beaverton’s 39,000 students are inspired and prepared for their brightest future could not happen without you.

We’re proud to share — in their own words — why Beaverton educators and students appreciate your support.

An enthusiastic thank you video from 5th grade students at Bethany Elementary School.

“I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to BEF for providing each District nurse with a bag filled with essential nursing supplies and membership dues to our professional organization! Our nurses are always on the move and provide care to students in multiple school buildings. Having their own supply kit helps them be efficient and meet the health needs of hundreds of students far better than ever before. In all my years with the District, this is the nicest thing, with the most impact, that has ever happened. We feel valued and celebrated by the gifts provided to us by the BEF!”

— Lori Perkins, School Nurse on Special Assignment

“Thanks to the support of the Beaverton Education Foundation and its donors, our book fair brought joy and enthusiasm to all our students and their families. With BEF support, we were able to give every one of our students a voucher to spend at our book fair. The students loved getting to shop through all the books, choose something meaningful to them and make their own purchase. They strategized about which books they wanted. Some brought a few crumpled bills of their own to add so they could get a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and others planned how to get three books with their voucher. Most importantly, they were all empowered to pick something special to them, and it was wonderful to see and experience.” 

— Amy Hoggan, PTC president, William Walker Elementary

“Middle school is such a pivotal time for students to discover who they are as a person and a learner. Our BEF-supported after school clubs offer positive environments for students. Safe and Sound 4 Student Success (S4) improves their school attendance, skills, and agency in a post-pandemic school environment in joyful and healthy ways.”

— Allyson Dubuque, assistant principal at Five Oaks Middle School

Together, our work makes a difference. Thank you to all our donors who help ensure BEF’s programs and projects will make an impact this school year and into the future.