Printed From Acorn-Online.com
SCHOOLS: Resurrected foundation wants to help
education
Feb 24, 2006
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| Founders of the effort to
breathe new life into The Ridgefield Education Foundation
include, from left, Marty Heiser, Mary Pat Devine and Mary
Miller. �Macklin Reid photo
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To enhance the education
available to Ridgefield�s students, without whacking the taxpayers
for more money, a small group plans to breathe new life into the
town�s dormant Ridgefield Education Foundation.
�There are so
many areas that could be enhanced,� said Mary Miller.
A
computer-controlled robot arm was designed and built by middle
school students through a grant from the Weston Education
Foundation.
Music, art, woodworking and cooperative �project
adventure� experiences were shared by fifth graders from Redding and
Danbury under a grant to promote multiculturalism from the Redding
Education Foundation.
Brookfield High School continued running
the Anti-Defamation League�s �Names Can Really Hurt Us� program
against bullying, harassment and name-calling, thanks to the
education foundation there.
In Cheshire, the education
foundation is raising money to build a small astronomical
observatory so students may get a better look at stars, galaxies and
planets.
�The key to a successful foundation is having a good
relationship with the school district,� Ms. Miller said. �You need
to know what the needs are. If it doesn�t fit with the direction the
school system is going, you�re really spinning your wheels.�
Ms.
Miller, who stepped down from the school board last fall, is one of
a trio of politically active Ridgefielders trying to get the
Ridgefield Education Foundation going again. Also working on the
project are Board of Finance member Marty Heiser and another former
school board member, Mary Pat Devine.
They�re asking any
interested Ridgefielder to come to an organizational meeting next
Thursday, March 2, at 7:30 in the town hall conference room.
Refreshments will be served.
�We�re not looking at just parents,
anyone in the community,� Ms. Devine said.
�People who have
talent, fund-raising abilities, that want to make a contribution,�
said Ms. Miller.
�I�d say anyone in town interested in enhancing
education,� Mr. Heiser said.
First edition
People of
differing outlooks on town affairs � school supporters, tax and
spending opponents, middle of the roaders � were involved when the
Ridgefield Education Foundation first got started late in 2003.
Today�s reorganizers hope to keep that tradition. Many of the
original group have since moved, but the work they got done gives
today�s organizing efforts a tremendous head start.
�The initial
board was formed and lot of great work was done putting together the
bylaws, incorporating as a non-profit, beginning the paperwork for a
501-(C)(3) (charity tax status), establishment of a post office
box,� said Mr. Heiser, the only holdover from the old
board.
�After the initial steering committee completed the
groundwork, fully one-third of them have since moved out of town and
as a result we�re no longer able to meet,� Mr. Heiser said.
�However, recently there�s been an influx of eager and energetic
fellow citizens of Ridgefield that are keen on picking up the
gauntlet and moving forward.�
�You need new people to energize,�
Ms. Miller said.
Ridgefield doesn�t have to break new ground.
There are 63 educational foundations in Connecticut, helping enhance
what is offered to public school children.
�If you have 45
minutes, get yourself a cup of tea and google �Connecticut education
foundations.� It�ll tell you everything you need to know,� Mr.
Heiser said.
For further information about the effort to revive
Ridgefield�s education foundation, contact Mary Pat Devine at
431-4526 or Marty Heiser at 438-2003.
�There is a golden
opportunity for citizens of Ridgefield who have an interest in
enhancing educational opportunities in the town to get involved,�
Mr. Heiser said. �The foundation�s been laid, and there�s some
exciting work to be done.�
� Copyright by Hersam
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