PTA supports projects through grants
Students and parents rolled dice in the
Lakeside Elementary School gym Thursday as part of an event to
promote family bonding and math skills.
“The goal was really creating family
togetherness and being able to continue practicing math and playing
games together at home,” organizer and teacher Rachel Stevens
said.
Family Math Night, which featured a
series of dice games created by each grade level, was one of a
number of projects funded this year through Leap and Live grants
from the Somers-Lakeside Parent Teacher Association’s
Holidayfest.
The roughly 230 attendees who RSVP’ed
for the event were able to move around to a variety of game tables
and try their hand at games teachers at each grade level came up
with. Every family left with a set of dice and an instruction
packet of all the games played that evening. The event was put
together by a seven-member committee.
“We’re grateful so many community
members responded and came out,” Stevens said. “We’re grateful for
the Leap and Live grants and having that resource for teachers to
use in so many ways. Having that resource is really wonderful for
our community and our school.”
In total, the PTA gave out
approximately $12,400 in grants to projects within the
Somers-Lakeside School District this year.
December’s Holidayfest raised $8,500
and the PTA was able to hand out an additional $3,900 that was
unspent from last year’s distribution.
“We always get more applications than
we have money for,” Holidayfest coordinator Tina Lerum said. “The
application is for things that are above and beyond what the school
takes care of for the classroom.”
This year the grant selection committee
received nine applications with requests totaling nearly $26,000.
Recipient projects in addition to the Family Math Night included
supplies to build and plant a vegetable garden at Somers Middle
School, support for the fifth-grade trip to Big Creek, photography
education materials and assistance with the middle school’s PACE
and Discovery Days programs. The largest amount, $6,000, went to an
artist in residence program at Lakeside Elementary School.
The PTA made a decision to no longer
fund the purchase of SMART boards, which the grants originally
helped purchase for the district. Since additional boards have been
purchased by the school district’s general funds and have become
classroom staples, the PTA will no longer fund those requests.
The first Holidayfest served as a
fundraiser for playground equipment at Lakeside. For years it was
used to fund a variety of projects.
The Leap and Live grant process was
instituted in 2005 and since then more than $85,000 has been raised
through Holidayfest to be dispersed for a wide range of
school-related projects.
Volunteers are currently being sought
to help with Holidayfest planning for this year in an effort to
continue raising funds for these projects.
“All of this takes volunteers to make
it happen,” Lerum said.
Those interested in getting involved
can contact Lerum at 844-3880.
Watch for more about this year’s Leap
and Live grant recipients in upcoming editions of the West Shore
News.