Natick Education Foundation awards over $22K in grants for 2021-22

The nonprofit Natick Education Foundation, whose mission is to bring schools and citizens together to improve education, has announced how it allotted over $22k for six projects in the 2021-2022 grant cycle.

“Our Grant Program is an important part of the Natick Education Foundation’s work.  We have seen how extraordinarily hard Natick teachers and administrators have worked throughout the pandemic,” said Megan Shelley, President of NEF.  “It is impressive that so many teachers and students had the passion and motivation to develop important and creative proposals for funding.”

Here’s the breakdown. Congratulations to all grant recipients:

Hobby lobby

Brown Elementary School got funding for a welcoming mural for the school’s lobby. The creation of the large-scale work will likely begin in spring 2023, when an artist-in -residence will lead the project. Students and members of the larger community will be involved in everything from prep to painting.

Brown Elementary Art Specialist Michelle Parven put together the grant proposal for this project.

Care for a spin?

The Natick High School Fitness Center with gain five new spin bikes, along with other equipment. The grant will allow spin classes to be offered at the high school, expanding access to fitness options for many students.

Jillian Schiavo, Physical Education teacher, spearheaded this grant application.

Technically speaking

NEF will help Robo-Natick, the award-winning Robotics Club at Natick High School, meet the financial demand of materials, competition entry fees, and providing demos and classes to younger students and the broader community. RoboNatick is a club for students who show an interest in the areas of robotics, technology, and engineering.

The club is supervised by Robotics teacher Donald Clements.

Shake, shake, shake your sillies out

Natick Pre-School’s wiggly, busy students will get a helping hand being more focused and engaged through a range of alternative seating options. Some possibilities: floor rocking chairs and other floor-based seating; balance balls; and chair cubes. We look forward to seeing the options in action.

Teacher Maureen Morrissey put forth this application.

Growth opportunity

The Wilson Middle School Robotics Club has struggled to increase membership, so 7th grade science teacher Craig Fulton applied to NEF for help replacing outdated and limited equipment. This grant will provide funds for new CUE robot kits, which should make a big difference in keeping students challenged and coming back to the club.

From tiny saplings grow mighty trees

Wilson Middle School 7th graders Jolee Flynn and Lily Wheeler want to make an impact on fighting climate change and they want to engage their peers, faculty, and WMS families while doing it. Project Sapling will organize presentations by local sustainability, conservation, and farming experts for the Wilson community. The culmination of the project will be planting trees in the Wilson Garden.

Wanted: NEF board members and volunteers