As we settle into a new year, we would like to take a moment to reflect on 2011 and express our gratitude to all of you who have supported our work. We couldn't have done it without you.
It has been an exciting time for us here at The Ed. Fund. We have been working hard over the past year to provide much needed resources to our children and educators in West Contra Costa County, and we'd like to share some highlights with you.
Early in 2011 we selected our scholarship winners for the year, and thanks to generous donations from Chevron, The Irvine Foundation and the Arthur & Norma Schroeder Scholarship Fund, we were able to provide $50,000 in scholarships to deserving students. This year we expanded upon our current scholarship program to include additional resources and services to our scholars to help them navigate the often confusing and difficult first year at college. Our goal is to ensure that each of these students finishes a successful first year and graduates from college with the knowledge and skills they'll need to enter the workforce and contribute to their community and society as a whole. We invite you to track their progress through our Scholars' Blog.
In May we held our 23rd Annual Excellence in Education Banquet "Let the Music Play" at the Craneway Pavilion. Everyone enjoyed a fun-filled evening honoring teachers and public education. The banquet is our most important fundraiser of the year, and we are so grateful to all of our event and table sponsors who participated. We thank everyone who came to support our educators and schools, and we are especially thankful to those who contributed through our auction and "Fund-A-Need" in support of music and arts education. All proceeds from the banquet support our work with the West Contra Costa Unified School District. We are looking forward to this year's banquet and hope to see you there.
Our 2011 Grants Program coincided with the start of the new school year. This year we once again received many outstanding applications. We were happy to be able to award $55,000 to our schools and teachers, supporting 74 projects in 31 schools across the district. We were able to support 20 projects that focused on music and the arts, thanks to funds raised at our annual banquet in support of music and arts education.
2011 also marked the second year for our Teacher Ambassador Program, which provides support and resources for teacher professional development. This year our ambassadors are all part of the district's Linked Learning Academies, and we are proud to partner with and support this program that inspires and prepares students for both a post-secondary education and a career in the 21st Century.
We've been working hard on our two new initiatives, Out-of-School-Time and College Access Network. We are very excited to be partnering with the school district and many wonderful community based organizations to provide essential after school and summertime programming to our children to help them stay ahead of the curve and succeed in school. We are focused on helping more of our youth realize their potential and pursue a college education.
We are very thankful for our success in 2011, and we are motivated and excited to continue our mission to advocate for excellence in education, assisting schools in providing high-quality learning experiences, promoting community engagement and investment in education, and supporting student access to educational opportunities. We thank you for supporting us in fulfilling our mission and look forward to collaborating with you this year.
We wish you happiness, health and prosperity in 2012!
In gratitude,
