McGimpsey Pantries, part of our Student Assistance Program, provides funds for food and toiletries to all 22 North Thurston schools. The Pantries began in 2008 and also funds a special summer grant for Lacey Girls’ and Boys’ Club. The pantry is now stocked in the orchestra room 103 in the armoire on the back wall at Lakes Elementary school, containing $500 of food funded by NTEF for students who are hungry, missed breakfast or need extra resources.
We love receiving thank you notes! Here’s one from Michael. Michael has diabetes, and with a Student Assistance Grant, we were able to purchase an iPod for him and his nurse.
Why an iPod? The school nurse uses the iPod to monitor Michael’s blood sugar levels and can adjust his levels as needed. This keeps him healthy so he can stay in school.
Student Assistance Grants are just one way North Thurston Education Foundation is helping students achieve academic success.
Our Student Assistance Grants are designed to help students overcome obstacles that may prevent them from academic success. Barriers to academic achievement come in a variety of ways, and often start at home with personal or financial problems. We recently assisted a family in extreme financial need when we supplemented the cost of a head lice technician coming into their trailer to rid them of an ongoing infestation. They had tried other interventions and products and needed a permanent and professional solution.
In the past 29 years, the North Thurston Education Foundation has given more than $1,500,000 to students and schools in the North Thurston Public Schools to help young people overcome obstacles to their education. Each year hundreds of students are helped through the Foundation’s programs.
In 2017, the Foundation provided $247,189 in support to students in North Thurston Public schools through our major programs, a new high in Foundation history.
1.) How did you first get involved in NTEF?
Please donate! The need is so great. All students (K-12) benefit from the funding brought to our schools through the work of NTEF. This fills the gap of financial support necessary to maintain the well-rounded opportunities we want for all our youth and offers a true investment in the future of North Thurston students.
Recently, we received a call from a case manager at the Family Support Center (FSC). She was working with a family who had a student in our school district. The mother had received a “three-day pay or vacate notice” and was in need of immediate rental assistance to avoid eviction. The family had nowhere else to go if they lost housing. The Family Support Center was out of funding and reached out to us to ask if we were able to assist with the rent. We explained that we needed to be sure that the family had a plan for next month and the case manager assured us that she would be able to pay her rent from this point on.
One of our North Thurston Public Schools’ families lost their home recently due to some unfortunate circumstances. They were living in their car with their dad. He ended up, reluctantly, sending the children to stay with the grandparents in Oregon until he could find permanent housing. Recently, he found an apartment to rent in Lacey so his children could return home and live with him. He had saved enough for a deposit and last month’s rent, but was short $400 on the current month’s rent he needed in order to move in.
After receiving the request, NTEF granted the family $400 to get them into stable housing. When Brenda McAferty, North Thurston Public Schools McKinney Vento Homeless / Foster Care Liaison called the dad to let him know we could help him, he broke down and cried with sheer relief. That is the power of a community rallying around our vulnerable families.
Our Student Assistance Grant program is designed to help families and students overcome obstacles to their success in school. Homelessness is absolutely an obstacle to success in school, so in these cases we work to ensure the family keeps a home or can get into permanent housing. In addition to paying rent, we also were able to pay one water bill and two power bills.
Here’s how Student Assistance Grants work: Annual allocations are provided to every school in the district, and to a district-at-large fund, to be used for personal and school needs. We work with many local organizations to fulfill these grants.
Learn more about how you can help with future needs of families and students in the North Thurston community.
Lacey, WA, September 17, 2018 – Please join the North Thurston Education Foundation (NTEF) for our annual luncheon, It’s For the Kids, on Friday, October 12 at 11:30 a.m. at the Lacey Community Center.
There is no charge to attend the luncheon, but a $100 donation is encouraged. All donations raised at the luncheon will go toward the Foundation’s scholarship program, Student Assistance Grants and Learning Improvement Grants. In 2017, NTEF distributed close to $250,000.
Our keynote speaker is Deanna East. Deanna is a McKinney Vento Student Navigator and she is part of the team that works with North Thurston Public Schools’ homeless students (nearly 1,000) and families and she will highlight the struggles our homeless and low-income students face every day.
When Deanna East began her career with North Thurston Public Schools 13 years ago, she was shocked to discover that there were homeless students who attended our schools. After working in a few different schools, she joined the McKinney Vento team that works one-on-one with our district’s homeless students and their families to educate, mentor, and navigate them through programs that can assist with their needs and help them succeed in school.
Through her work, Deanna began advocating for the homeless and started three new programs at Timberline to ensure that all students had access to food, personal hygiene products, and an onsite small clothing bank.
She is an executive board member of the BOOST Scholarships and an active volunteer for many nonprofits that serve our local homeless population. For the last 11 years, Deanna has been the keynote speaker for the nonprofit entity Homeless Backpack Inc., and also was their site coordinator at Timberline for ten years. She was inspired to return to school to complete her Bachelor’s degree at Evergreen State College, which would help her research best practices in supporting our homeless and low-income students to be more successful in school and beyond.
There are sponsorship and volunteer opportunities available. For more information, please contact Mike Jones at (360) 790-6548 or [email protected]
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKET.
Thank you, sponsors!
1. How did you first get involved in NTEF?
I was invited by a current Board Member to attend the 2018 Annual Meeting. After of hearing all the ways NTEF supports kids in our community I was immediately inspired to become involved.
2. How do you enjoy spending your free time?
We have a young family with boys ages 2 and 4; you will usually find us working in our yard, at a local park, community event or camping for a long weekend.
3. How do you believe the community can best support the work of NTEF?
Join Us! NTEF represents an opportunity for members of the community to improve the educational opportunities, quality of life and future for thousands of young people in our community. Whether you have time to volunteer, experience to share or financial contributions to make; the kids need you.
Learning Improvement Grants, to educators for classroom use, have been given since 1996. Currently, several grants are selected through a competitive application process. Funds help teachers increase student learning tied to district and state learning goals.
You have 4 opportunities a year to apply for grants, September 15, November 1, February 1, and May 1.
Download the form here.