february 2025 update
golf registration open!
Get in on the early bird rate!
Registration is now open for this year's Olympia Education Foundation Golf Scramble, which is set for Friday, July 11, 2025, at Capitol City Golf Club (with a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start). As always, it benefits our Principal's Emergency Fund -- and all of our work to cultivate student potential.
Early bird rates are available now! On top of that, we have lowered the team registration fee and are allowing individuals to register this year.
If you are ready to take advantage of the early bird rate, you can register here.
Sponsorships are also available at multiple levels -- and many include teams of four.
We look "fore-ward" to seeing you at the Olympia Education Foundation Golf Scramble this July!
next up in our speaker series ...
How to find calm as a caregiver
We are excited to welcome back to our Student & Community Well-Being speaker series Alexis Roberson, a local parent coach and licensed marriage and family therapist.
Join us Feb. 24 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Pioneer Elementary for a workshop entitled "Calm & Connected: Strengthening Your Self-Regulation as a Parent/Caregiver." Alexis will help participants identify areas of needed growth and explore stress-reducing strategies that address myriad parenting/caregiving challenges. Keep in mind that a parent/caregiver's ability to self-regulate is primary in supporting children with heightened nervous system sensitivity (ADHD, PDA, autism, anxiety, etc).
Please use this link to pre-register for Alexis' event.
Other upcoming events in this series include:
March 19: Hear from Dr. Bre Haizlip about how "Mental Health Is Generational Wealth" from 6 to 8 p.m. at ASHHO Cultural Community Center. Learn 12 key investments to nurture your child's emotional, mental, and social growth. Discover practical tools and strategies you can use daily to foster a supportive and resilient home environment. Leave inspired and equipped to prioritize mental wellness for generations to come.
Please use this link to pre-register for Dr. Bre's event.
April 16: Parent coach Emily McMason will give a presentation entitled "A is for Anxiety," from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Thurgood Marshall Middle School. She describes it as follows: "From elementary years to high school experiences, school comes with all sorts of stress for our students. And we see it show up in lots of places -- including sleep issues, anger outbursts, reluctance or refusal for school or activities. Let's talk about what's going on and the strategies we can use to support our kids at home so that school (and life!) feels better."
Please use this link to pre-register for Emily's event.
All Olympia School District families, caregivers, students and staff are invited to participate for free in all of these events. Food and on-site child care will also be provided. (For child care, children must be able to use the toilet on their own.)
Recordings of previous Student & Community Well-Being events can be found here on our website.
classroom grants in action
Olympia High School students in Heidi Heiser's environmental science classes use syringe filters, which she purchased with Foundation grant funding, to perform a water purification lab earlier in the school year.
Grant benefits OHS science students
As usual, Foundation Teaching & Learning Grants are supporting students this year in every one of the district's school buildings, including Olympia High School, where teachers received funds for: nonfiction books in the library; a National Honor Society public art project; pinball machine restoration in a CTE class; and a college fair trip.
Grant funds also made a water purification lab possible in science teacher Heidi Heiser's class. She used the funds she was awarded to purchase syringe filters.
"... this lab is ... relevant to their daily necessity of clean drinking water," Heiser said. "Many students have experience trying to clean water while backpacking and this lab lets them test the efficacy of different methods. It also touches on what people might do in countries without a supply of clean drinking water."
Following the lab, Heiser shared, "In our class discussion we talked a lot about whether or not clean water is a right or a privilege. It was interesting to hear students reflect on the fact that we take drinking fountains for granted because we assume the water will be clean to drink out of the tap. This was evidence that their learning of different water purification treatments extended into a real world application."
Any district staff working directly with students is eligible to apply for a Foundation grant
While all budgeted funds have been awarded for the current school year, the application process for 2025-2026 school year grants will open in mid- to late April.
You can learn more about all of our grants here.
sponsor spotlight
Shout out to Cymbal Public Relations, a longtime sponsor of the Olympia Education Foundation Golf Scramble -- and the first to agree to sponsoring this year's event! We are grateful for your continued support.