Creating Possible
June 2016  

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Nearly 700 families have donated to SEF this school year! If you have not yet given, please consider doing so to help us continue making innovative grants to the Summit Public Schools. Donations received by June 30th will be recognized in our annual "Back to School" mailing. 

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
 
Christine Murray
  President
Irene Murdock
  Vice President
Jane Murphy
  Secretary
Beth ­Sharpe
  Treasurer
 
Jennifer Anderson
Gene Bebout
Yon Cho
Amy D'Andrea
Jeff Giroux
Amanda Greenblatt
Meme Harris
Kelly Iacovelli
Julie Kimmel
Beth Little
Laura Madden
Nicole Plumbo
Diana Sajer
Jenna Sullivan
Sonia Timoney
Corey Walsh
Amy Wise
 
David Dietze
  Board of Education
  Representative
 
 
ADVISORY BOARD
of GOVERNORS
 
Nicole Blomfield
Amy DiSibio
Leah Griffith
Julie Keenan
Betsy Macpherson
Nora Radest
Paul Rissman
Laura Schaffer
Highlights from 2015-16

Dear SEF Friends,
 
As we look back on the 2015-16 school year, the statistics tell a compelling story of how the Summit Educational Foundation makes a difference in our schools:
  • $348,000 for 54 grants awarded this year in science, math, literacy, foreign language, technology, and the arts
  • 4100+ students in our nine public schools positively impacted
  • Nearly 700 families, about 30% of the district, joined SEF as members
  • $5.4 million in grants over our 30-year history celebrated in April

Grant highlights this year include:

  • Family Science, Math, and Technology Nights at all elementary schools
  • "Makerspace" equipment for all five elementary libraries and "Sphero Sprk" robots at LCJSMS to enable hands-on engineering and technology activities
  • Battle of the Books, a team-based reading motivation program, at all elementary schools
  • STEAM Carnival for grades K-5, with numerous hands-on science activities, to be held in October 2016
  • Jazz Band visits by professional clinicians at LCJSMS and SHS
  • Forensics Debate Team at LCJSMS
  • 3D printer for Design Projects in Physics and new telescope system and binoculars for Astronomy at SHS
  • Expanded 11th & 12th grade course offerings through the "Virtual High School" program
  • Peer Leadership Program for juniors and seniors
As this partial listing shows, SEF grants touch all types of learners and all areas of curriculum at each of Summit's Public Schools. For a complete listing, please visit our website, sefnj.org. 
 
For 30 years, SEF has believed in the power of a united community to strengthen our schools and further our collective goal of educational excellence. Thank you to all of our SEF supporters who are shaping the future success of our children, our teachers, and our district.
 
Sincerely,
Christine Murray
President

Doug Orr Awarded the Nora Radest Award for Excellence in Education
The SEF Nora Radest Award for Excellence in Education honors Nora, our past President and board member, whose vision for and dedication to SEF spanned many years. Each year, the award is given to a teacher or administrator who has submitted grants through the SEF process and, in so doing, has greatly enriched the classroom environment and served as a role model to others in the district.  
 
SEF presented the 2016 Radest award to Doug Orr, Supervisor of Technology for the Summit School District, on June 15th. Doug has been a big supporter of SEF and an active grant writer for many years, with a strong vision for technology implementation within the District. Among his many SEF grants over the years, Doug introduced Elmo document cameras and smart boards. He was the impetus behind the iPad rollout at the middle school. He also conceived and implemented the Chromebook rollout currently under way at the high school. Doug has his stamp on every technology grant funded by SEF as all must be run by him before funding to ensure that the District can support the technology request. Last year he was named a Top 30 technologist by the Center for Digital Education.

Congratulations Doug, and thank you for continuing to raise the educational bar in Summit!

Nora Radest, Doug Orr, and Christine Murray
Together, we can make possible a reality.