Foundation

Hey Fort Collins Community!
Have you heard of the Poudre School District’s Foundation program? I was lucky enough to attend the Foundation’s annual community breakfast and learned about the incredible opportunities and learning adventures they provide for our Fort Collins youth. By providing SPIE (Supporting Partnerships in Innovative Education) Grants, “which are designed to encourage innovative and creative educational approaches to educate every child,” teachers and district staff members can submit proposals to receive money to fund their idea. This morning we watched great videos of our talented youth and local teachers’ proposals come to life. I was blown away. The first video showed teacher Leah Swanson at Cache La Poudre Elementary and her The Curing Monolingualism, providing novels in Spanish to teach 3rd grade students a new language in the context of real texts. I was also impressed with Michael Woodfruff’s Coffee Roasting Entrepreneurs, which enables students with learning disabilities to learn interpersonal social and skills while roasting, packaging, and selling coffee. The final video revealed the talent and incredible tenacity of the youth involved in The Colorado Coralition, led by their teacher Matt Strand at Polaris Expeditionary Learning School. This amazing group of students travelled to the Florida Keys after learning about the importance of coral and its rapid decline, and actually dove to the bottom of the ocean to plant healthy coral fragments on endangered reefs! On top of their inspiring video, every student shared part of the story telling and even performed their own song about their commitment to protect the natural world. Again, inspiring. The Foundation serves our community here in Colorado where, compared with most of the country, very little of our tax dollars go to our schools. However, students still deserve choices and, of course, more opportunities to succeed. The Foundation can provide these unique programs, often with just a few hundred dollars. Consider donating today, and check out the Foundation’s mission to recognize exceptional teachers and bring innovative ideas in and out of the classroom.