MEEKER I The Meeker Education Foundation’s annual fund’s role is to complete a major project for Meeker School District by pursuing community partnerships, grants and targeted fundraising.
This program is not to be confused with MEF’s Grant Award Program, which provides teacher/student grant awards for academic/activity enrichment opportunities, classroom/program needs and stipends for staff member’s continuing education. The annual Benefit Dinner and Auction helps fund this granting program.
“With the track/football field (the first fund project) ready to begin construction on May 19, the MEF has chosen to help fund curriculum priorities (textbooks and curricular materials) identified by the district’s Curriculum Development Plan for 2016-2017,” MEF President Mary Strang said. “The needs are extraordinary due to recent austerity budget years when little curriculum work could take place. These needs are well documented on the website, meekereducationfoundation.org.”
Phase 1 will purchase mathematics curricular materials for Meeker Elementary School’s kindergarten through fifth grades and Barone Middle School’s sixth grade. This is the highest priority because the current curriculum does not align well (if at all) with Colorado Academic Standards, Strang said.
As pointed out by Superintendent Chris Selle, “Research is very clear that the most significant influence on student learning is the classroom teacher. The next most influential factor is an aligned and viable curriculum.”
After significant research and teacher input, the “Everyday Math” program has been chosen, Strang said.
“It is a comprehensive K-6th grade program that transitions well into the current math curriculum used in seventh and eighth grades,” she said. “Continuing this program through sixth grade further enhances the transition of students from elementary to middle school and creates a vertically integrated mathematics curriculum from elementary through middle school.
The Everyday Math package, with shipping, will cost $64,708 for a five-year K-6 subscription,” Strang said, adding that, “it includes grade-level workbooks each year (provided by McGraw Hill) and a comprehensive resource bundle for teachers—lesson guides, assessment handbooks, multiple classroom activities and more. A one-year subscription was also priced, but it was not cost effective.”
The MSD’s documented pledge to review curriculum and curricular materials annually and ensure quality and current resources for each classroom depends on available revenue, Strang said
“Funding will also dictate how quickly courses, positions and programs (lost in recent years’ budgetary rescissions) will be restored, provided they successfully follow the reinstatement/adoption process,” she said.
Independent resources can help the district meet these goals, deal with our state’s inadequate funding and provide our students with a well-rounded and quality education, Strang said.
“This is the reason the Meeker Education Foundation was created and the challenge it attempts to meet through fund-raising and grant writing,” she said.
Go to meekereducationfoundation.org and the Annual Fund tab to learn more.
