Category: Uncategorized

Thanks to our generous donors Beaverton Education Foundation has awarded $51,146, funding 34 classroom projects for the 2021-22 academic year.

Highland Park’s Maker Space

Highland Park Middle School
Students Served: 750+
Recipient: Timothy Livingston
Amount Awarded: $800

Funding provided by Intel & Highland Park PTO

Maker Space students from Highland Park Middle School can now bring their ideas to life! Thanks to Beaverton’s Choice funds, students have the tools needed to further develop their design thinking mindset and approach to learning, collaboration and problem solving – all while building and refining their own creations. 

Kinnaman Creates!

Kinnaman Elementary School
Students Served: 100
Recipient: Nikki Chappelle, Jordan Crownover, Katie Eubanks and Jennifer Nevarez
Award: $1,010

Kinnaman Elementary fifth graders have more opportunities to connect with peers and relieve stress thanks to weekly art class, made possible through Beaverton’s Choice funds. What began as a single classroom project, quickly gained momentum transforming into a grade-level program. Thanks to generous donors, every fifth grader is able to express themselves through art and gain experience turning mistakes into opportunities. And, it’s fun! Students’ joy during art time on Fridays is palpable. They get excited to share their spin on the project and always point out their specific art piece as we walk down the halls.

Melodic Mallet Madness

Springville K-8
Students Served: 666
Recipient: Stephanie Meeks and Andrea Herinckx
Award: $2,100

Thanks to funds raised through Beaverton’s Choice, music teachers Stephanie Meeks and Andrea Herinckx, will have the flexibility to increase instructional time and reduce wear and tear on their school’s xylophones – all while providing 700 Springville K-8 students the opportunity to learn, create and experience high-quality music education.

Thanks to your 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.

Wow! In the final weeks of 2021, Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF) distributed nearly 900 personalized thank you notes throughout our District. We were honored to deliver these uplifting messages to around 25% of our educators and staff, from nutrition service workers and paraeducators to teachers and beyond. And, the feedback from staff was tremendous. One teacher told us:

You made my day! I was working away when I got this surprise note. It was so unexpected and I was dealing with a bit of a situation when one of the secretaries brought it to me. Thank You! From the bottom of my heart!

—Member of the Special Education team

Below are just a few examples of how families expressed their gratitude to our amazing educators who make a difference in our students’ lives.

Each one of these sentiments, and hundreds of others like them, included a donation in support of BEF’s Beaverton’s Choice programming. Thanks to these families, BEF has an additional $9,000 to support hands-on classroom projects and programs. We will soon share how we’ll award these funds so they make the biggest impact possible in our schools.

“Thank you for creating a learning environment that our daughter looks forward to being a part of every day. She leaves home enthusiastic and returns at the end of the day full of energetic stories. We appreciate you and everything you do!” 

“I have watched our son go from being sad and despondent during online school to an engaged and happy student! That speaks volumes to what you are doing to lead the staff and students – so a HUGE thanks!” 

“Thank you for all you do! You always make these kiddos feel like they are the only thing that matters. We see you and we appreciate you – you make a difference!” 

“Kindergarten teachers are magical people. They take these tiny wide-eyed humans and make them into confident, educated and excited citizens of the world. You have been the perfect teacher to get our daughter excited to learn and be a student!” 

Our work is made possible by you, our generous connected community. Your donations make an impact. Thank you for supporting Beaverton schools.

As we begin another year, many of us find ourselves longing for the structure and familiarity of life prior to the pandemic. While BEF staff misses seeing first-hand the triumphs and joy our work brings to classrooms, we are also surprised by the opportunities our shifted lifestyle has provided.   

Our annual fundraiser, Answer the Call, returned this year looking a little different than in the past, but still achieved great success. The number of volunteer student callers were limited due to COVID, but we utilized new tactics, including texting (which the students really appreciated), working with our community supporters in creative ways and forming deeper connections with the dedicated volunteers who joined us each evening. 

The results were beyond our expectations. Not only did we raise funds for inspirational classroom projects and extended-day and summer programs, COVID got us thinking differently and helped us to realize a better version of normal. Reminding us that yes, we are resilient, and to always look for positive and new take-aways from any experience. 

During this year’s Answer the Call, we were able to personalize interactions with students and for some, help overcome their apprehension with a completely foreign task – talking on a phone. As we prepared the students, we discussed how the outreach they were doing would directly fund programs similar to ones they had been a part of, bringing new meaning to their night of service. Being able to have brief, sidebar conversations of support with our volunteers showed that even a tiny act can have a huge impact on someone’s day.

We were reminded of the power of small actions again last month, when BEF was once again able to deliver teacher and staff appreciation gifts. Our generous donors wrote four times as many notes of gratitude to educators this year than they did in most years since we first started this initiative in 2010. Even the simplest of sentiments provided a bright spot for our teachers and staff as they neared winter break. The donations made to BEF with these thank you notes will help support Beaverton’s Choice projects, and we can’t wait to share soon how we’ll award these funds so they make the biggest impact possible in our schools.  

If the last two years have taught our society anything, it is that change is the only constant. But that’s not new to us. BEF is always pivoting and adapting the support we provide to our schools, while maintaining our steadfast focus on immediate, solvable problems and long-term sustainable solutions for all Beaverton’s public schools.

We couldn’t do this without the support of our donors and community partners. In 2022, we look forward to strengthening our educational community for the thousands of Beaverton students and staff as we create our better version of normal together.

Thanks to our generous donors, Beaverton Education Foundation has awarded $47,236, funding 31 classroom projects, for the 2021-22 academic year.

Help Hiteon Hawks Soar With “Good Fit” Books

Hiteon Elementary School
Students Served: 310
Recipient: Sivhong Hanson
Amount Awarded: $1,500

Funding provided by the Anne Kelly Ofstun Tubby Fund

Thanks to funds raised through Beaverton’s Choice, young learners at Hiteon Elementary will be able to increase their reading skills and stamina with “good fit” books that are representative of our diverse community and captivate students’ attention.

PADRES UNIDOS

Westview High School
Students Served: 350
Recipient: Michelle Silva
Amount Awarded: $2,000

Westview Unido is changing the ongoing statistic of LatinX students’ lack of engagement in the school system by providing informational nights on: academic procedures, how to read transcripts, college preparedness, advanced course registration and more. Thanks to funds raised through Beaverton’s Choice, the group will be able to provide more engaging opportunities to grow the Unido family and build their community through events where families can meet each other and converse with the school’s administrative team.

Kindy Owls are Hootin’ for Recess

Vose Elementary School
Students Served: 19
Recipient: Ariel Willey
Amount Awarded: $500

Kindergarteners at Vose Elementary School are getting active and giving their brains a break thanks to Beaverton’s Choice funds for interesting, outdoor play options that can be easily enjoyed, rain or shine.

Barnes Bops for BrainPOP

Barnes Elementary School
Students Served: 70
Recipient: Tammie Catherall
Amount Awarded: $690

Funding provided through the BEF Building STEAM 4 ALL program

Funds raised through Beaverton’s Choice gave Barnes Elementary School students access to digital content through BrainPOP – engaging students and supporting teachers with learning games, custom and playful assessments, lesson plans, and beyond. Content is available in English and Spanish, further supporting ELLs and Spanish speakers by engaging and challenging students with tiered lessons to build reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

Learning through Art

Beaver Acres Elementary School
Students Served: 22
Recipient: Amy Molony
Award: $372

Kindergarteners at Beaver Acres Elementary School are expanding their love of learning and building their self-awareness thanks to funds from Beaverton’s Choice. Using painting as a medium for inquiry and purposeful play students can create aesthetically pleasing works and experiences that convey ideas, express emotion and use their senses all while exploring color, processes and outcomes. and. Painting also helps develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Building Our Leveled Libraries

William Walker Elementary School
Students Served: 500
Recipient: Rosanne Freer
Award: $2,640

Funding provided through the Anne Kelly Ofstun Tubby and Mike Osborne Memorial Award Endowment Funds

William Walker Elementary students have expanded access to curated library bins thanks to Beaverton’s Choice funds. The bins provide eager and enthusiastic learners a wide selection of perfectly tailored, reading level-specific books and will help improve reading levels that were impacted during online learning.

Ping Pong Please!

Meadow Park Middle School
Students Served: 600
Recipient: Jennifer Hoffman
Award: $500

Students at Meadow Park Middle School received an opportunity to learn a fun, new skill – ping pong! Thanks to Beaverton’s Choice funding, Meadow Park is able to add a new unit to their PE lessons. Students are having fun, learning new skills and enjoying a safe opportunity to socialize every day during PE.

Building STEAM skills… literally!

Kinnaman Elementary School
Students Served: 500
Recipient: Michael Reed
Award: $965

Funding provided through Intel & the BEF Building STEAM 4 ALL program

Every student at Kinnaman Elementary is gaining valuable experience planning, building, revising, innovating and collaborating thanks to funds raised to purchase low-tech building blocks. Hands-on tools like these Keva Planks are now a part of STEAM specials curriculum and teach high-tech skills to even the youngest learners.

Aloha High School Gallery Lighting

Aloha High School
Students Served: 1000+
Recipient: Stephen Loudon
Award: $1,000

Funding provided Aloha High School Booster Club

Artwork from more than 2,000 Aloha High School visual art students annually will be properly lit in H Hall to be enjoyed by the entire Aloha High School community of students, staff and visitors thanks to funds raised for upgraded gallery lighting. New lighting will help students with: peer critiques, produce higher quality artwork and learn how to appropriately install and light artwork.

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.

When Kobe started at Highland Park Middle School, his grades and attendance were not great. But, that quickly changed after he joined Safe and Sound 4 Student Success (S4), an after school program that combines academic support, peer-to-peer relationship building, soccer and other enrichment activities to help students thrive in school and beyond. 

While Kobe was only at Highland Park for two years before his family moved, he kept in touch with his S4 advisor and school psychologist, Kelly Smith. She helped him navigate paperwork at his new school and invited him back to Highland Park to help with S4 activities.

Last spring Kobe contacted Smith again with a special request: would she attend his high school graduation? He was so proud to walk in the ceremony, and he attributed his success to the support he got in the S4 program. He wanted to share the accomplishment with her, and it turned into a day neither will forget. 

BEF Lays the Groundwork for a Lasting Program

BEF first started funding middle school after school academics in 2004, and it’s awarded more than $1 million since then to support students experiencing barriers to school success. The S4 program brings together academic and social supports with an outlet for physical activity that eases the transition so middle schoolers can become successful high school students. 

The students develop leadership skills they wouldn’t get otherwise at school, and build meaningful relationships with their peers and teachers. They not only get academic support, but are also held accountable for their academics — without academic participation and success, they can’t play on the soccer teams they love so much. These multicultural groups share a pride in representing their schools in soccer tournaments, and this inspires their hard work. 

BEF was instrumental in launching the S4 program at a few initial sites in 2013 and has since provided funding to expand it to middle schools across the Beaverton School District, added consistent academic expectations, and implemented a robust evaluation process.

The results are tangible. Data on attendance, grades and behavior confirms that S4 sets students on a path to success, like it did for Kobe. S4 students attend more school, earn better grades, and have fewer disciplinary incidents when compared to peers who did not take part in the program.

“With its focus on demographic groups where academic achievement has historically lagged, we know S4 is one of the reasons our District has seen improvements in the number of 9th grade students on track to graduate,” says Ken Struckmeier, the District’s executive administrator for middle schools. 

As a result, the District recently committed to expanding the program, providing at least $150,000 this year, which complements BEF’s $30,000 award. 

S4 is available at all District middle schools, but it isn’t a one-school-fits all solution, says Kristine Baggett, BEF’s executive director. Each school’s version of S4 is built and executed by local staff, students and volunteers but relies on the core S4 model.

“S4 is a great example of how BEF incubates an idea and amplifies staff and student voices, finding viable solutions that are then easily implemented by the District,” Baggett says. 

“The District’s deeper support for S4 is proof that our approach to educational transformation works,” she adds. “We’re proud that this BEF program has demonstrated how it’s an important tool for students to gain academic tools, confidence and leadership skills. We’re thrilled the District is expanding its role and that S4 will leave a lasting imprint on even more students.” 

You can support BEF’s Cornerstone Programs like S4 and ensure every Beaverton student is inspired and prepared for their brightest future by becoming a monthly donor today.