Most people would agree that a library is a basic necessity for a school.
But Tiger Mountain Community High School would not have one if it wasn’t for the commitment to our local students shown by the Issaquah Schools Foundation (ISF).
Joy Allison, a Social Studies teacher and Librarian at Tiger Mountain Community High School, and Lane Helgeson, a Language Arts teacher, wrote an ISF grant proposal for the new library in 2007.
“The Issaquah Schools Foundation is very helpful. Without the grants we probably couldn’t be running a library,” Allison said.
Tiger Mountain Community High School is not the only school benefiting from the additional funding provided by the ISF – every school in the district can come to the foundation with grant proposals.
But in order to fund the proposals the foundation itself must have funding.
Essential to raising funds for the foundation is their annual Nourish Every Mind Luncheon which will be held on May 13 at the Issaquah Community Center. The suggested donation for the luncheon is $150. The event, which begins at 11 a.m., will include a silent auction and a program featuring a video and presentations from previous grant recipients.
Robin Callahan, Executive Director of the Issaquah Schools Foundation, has been a member of the foundation for 12 years.
“The luncheon is really the place where you learn about the work the Issaquah Schools Foundation is doing,” Callahan said. “Half the annual revenue comes from the luncheon.”
The Nourish Every Mind Luncheon is Lynn Juniel’s favorite event. Juniel is the Issaquah Schools Foundation’s Development Manager.
“The funds raised at the lunch go to help under-write ongoing funding and help provide new stuff. This year, we’re really asking everyone who attends to step up and give their best,” Juniel said. “Originally our goal was to raise $350,000, which is almost half the budget we raise in a year.”
The Issaquah Schools Foundation helps with a variety of programs in the Issaquah School District – programs to help at risk students, after school mentoring programs, to further professional enrichment for teachers, and funding to innovate and advance curriculums.
Like the Big Ideas grants awarded to a select group of local teachers in March, any time their are educators in the district with a desire to do something creative and innovative to help their students, the ISF does its very best to help.
“It runs the whole spectrum; it really is amazing what ideas the teachers come up with,” Juniel said.
“We provide $100 to $10,000 worth of Academic Enrichment grants each year to fund innovation, education and classroom needs,” Juniel said. “This year we had over 60 grant proposals, and granted around $73,000 in requests getting books in classrooms, a video science lab model, and started programs at Pacific Cascade Freshmen Campus and Creekside Elementary.”
Sara Nigowski, Issaquah School District’s Director of Communications, was impressed by the programs that had been made possible with grants from the Issaquah School Foundation.
“The funds go to really fundamental things that make education better. They provide grants that allow teachers to think outside of the box,”
Nigowski said. “Beginning last year we got millions of dollars cut from our budget. The Issaquah Schools Foundation and PTSAs have been stepping in and helping out.”
Nigowski said the Issaquah School District had managed the budget cuts well but depends on the support from the ISF and the PTSAs.
Juniel, who has children in the Issaquah School District, originally joined because she recognized the need for the foundation.
“When you tell people our schools need money, the say, well don’t my taxes pay for that? They don’t realize how big the need is,” Juniel said. “Even $100 or $200 has made a change. If everyone just gave a little, we could do so much more.”
For more information on the Issaquah Schools Foundation and the Nourish Every Mind Luncheon, visit www.issaquahschoolsfoundation.org.
